Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
International News Desk
Aired September 24, 2003 - 05:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The latest violence in Iraq, President Bush's address to the United Nations, there's a lot to talk about on the international front, which is why we always like to talk to our senior international editor, David Clinch.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Carol, good morning.
LIN: Good morning.
CLINCH: I would like to talk today about me.
LIN: You?
CLINCH: Well, not just...
LIN: I thought we'd talk about...
CLINCH: Not just me.
LIN: ... some news makers. What are you up to?
CLINCH: Well, about journalists. Let me tell you, on the Iraq story, I'll get to exactly why journalism is going to be very important on the Iraq story. What's emerging after President Bush's speech yesterday, in the most general of terms, is a holding pattern. There were no radical new words by President Bush yesterday. There's no outlook of any radical immediate change in terms of France's position or anybody else's position, certainly not the U.S. position in terms of a new U.N. resolution or more troops for Iraq or more money from other countries for Iraq.
And so in the most general of senses, what we're looking at is between now and the key next big issue, which is the U.S. election next year, is a holding pattern, a calculation by the Bush administration that they can do the job within the next year. Everything we're hearing from the Bush administration about the next steps in Iraq are to do with a year from now. A year from now there'll be elections in Iraq. A year from now there'll be an army in Iraq. A year from now they will have rebuilt Iraq to a certain extent.
And so over that 400 days or so until the U.S. election, and somewhere around the same time, presumably, an Iraqi election, the journalism comes in. And by that I mean what we just heard from Michael, what our reporters are seeing on the ground. Is it good news, is it bad news? Is there such a thing as good news or is there such a thing as bad news? We're getting criticized a lot, everybody is, for being negative about what's happening in Iraq.
Some people accuse us sometimes when we do good news stories of just pandering and saying it's just good news. The really important job that we have over the next 400 days or so is to report as accurately and dispassionately as possible what we see. No U.S. soldiers were killed today, but an Iraqi was killed today. An average of more than one U.S. soldier or a coalition soldier has been killed every day. Can that sustain over 400 days or so, you know, adding up to a total of maybe 1,000 coalition troops? Is there going to be an improvement? Is there good news? Is there bad news?
The key important job that we have is to make sure that we report it accurately and dispassionately and let the audience decide.
LIN: But see, what's really tough about that is it gets to be like the Middle East story, where it's a repetitive pattern of violence that leads to nothing being resolved.
CLINCH: Right.
LIN: The story doesn't seem to change.
CLINCH: And we know we're doing our job properly if we're being criticized by both sides. So that's what we're aiming towards.
LIN: Nothing like being smack dab in the middle.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
LIN: All right, thanks, David.
CLINCH: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 24, 2003 - 05:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The latest violence in Iraq, President Bush's address to the United Nations, there's a lot to talk about on the international front, which is why we always like to talk to our senior international editor, David Clinch.
DAVID CLINCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: Carol, good morning.
LIN: Good morning.
CLINCH: I would like to talk today about me.
LIN: You?
CLINCH: Well, not just...
LIN: I thought we'd talk about...
CLINCH: Not just me.
LIN: ... some news makers. What are you up to?
CLINCH: Well, about journalists. Let me tell you, on the Iraq story, I'll get to exactly why journalism is going to be very important on the Iraq story. What's emerging after President Bush's speech yesterday, in the most general of terms, is a holding pattern. There were no radical new words by President Bush yesterday. There's no outlook of any radical immediate change in terms of France's position or anybody else's position, certainly not the U.S. position in terms of a new U.N. resolution or more troops for Iraq or more money from other countries for Iraq.
And so in the most general of senses, what we're looking at is between now and the key next big issue, which is the U.S. election next year, is a holding pattern, a calculation by the Bush administration that they can do the job within the next year. Everything we're hearing from the Bush administration about the next steps in Iraq are to do with a year from now. A year from now there'll be elections in Iraq. A year from now there'll be an army in Iraq. A year from now they will have rebuilt Iraq to a certain extent.
And so over that 400 days or so until the U.S. election, and somewhere around the same time, presumably, an Iraqi election, the journalism comes in. And by that I mean what we just heard from Michael, what our reporters are seeing on the ground. Is it good news, is it bad news? Is there such a thing as good news or is there such a thing as bad news? We're getting criticized a lot, everybody is, for being negative about what's happening in Iraq.
Some people accuse us sometimes when we do good news stories of just pandering and saying it's just good news. The really important job that we have over the next 400 days or so is to report as accurately and dispassionately as possible what we see. No U.S. soldiers were killed today, but an Iraqi was killed today. An average of more than one U.S. soldier or a coalition soldier has been killed every day. Can that sustain over 400 days or so, you know, adding up to a total of maybe 1,000 coalition troops? Is there going to be an improvement? Is there good news? Is there bad news?
The key important job that we have is to make sure that we report it accurately and dispassionately and let the audience decide.
LIN: But see, what's really tough about that is it gets to be like the Middle East story, where it's a repetitive pattern of violence that leads to nothing being resolved.
CLINCH: Right.
LIN: The story doesn't seem to change.
CLINCH: And we know we're doing our job properly if we're being criticized by both sides. So that's what we're aiming towards.
LIN: Nothing like being smack dab in the middle.
CLINCH: Absolutely.
LIN: All right, thanks, David.
CLINCH: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
