ABC entertaining the world.

international | arts and media | other press Sunday July 31, 2005 13:27 by iosaf

U.S. ABC television network has been stripped of its accreditation at the Russian Defence Ministry after it broadcasted an interview with Chechen warlord Shamil Basayev, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Sunday.

“We shall continue being open with the press, but that channel will never be invited to the ministry and there will be no interviews with it,” Ivanov emphasized.

“This channel has become persona non grata for the ministry, it is an outcast,” the head of the Russian ministry told reporters.

“If I have to express feelings over that (Basayev’s interview with ABC), I would put it in just one word – indignation,” the Russian defence minister emphasized.

Ivanov said he had given instructions to the head of the ministry press service to see that no military from the ministry maintained contacts with that television network any longer.
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The Russians aren't the only people well pissed off with ABC TV...

Kill Your TV!

http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/07/31/ivanovabc.shtml
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/3678.html
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/Displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/editorial/2005/July/editorial_July67.xml§ion=editorial&subsection=editorial
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20050731/41061817.html


I hope many of you are.


* ABC TV gave 18 minutes total newscast coverage in 2004 to Dharfur.
* ABC TV gave more time to Condoleeza Rice's team of journalists being "man-handled" in 2005 than all coverage of the crises in 2003 and 2004 and 2005, an event that saw the US Secretary of State's visit to the camps compressed.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=71040


* ABC TV fabricated a story on July 8th 2005 which was syndicated throughout global newspapers including the readership in translation of mass titles in Turkey, eastern Europe and the Middle East and their migrant communities in London, that more unexploded bombs were found.

* ABC TV fabricated a story on July 22nd 2005 that a car had been found by British Police containing 12 prepared bombs.

* ABC TV played a pivotal rôle in disinformation throughout all Asian syndicate coverage of the London bombings, The Menezes murder, and the investigation.

* ABC in syndicate spins and pitches and manipulates shreds of rumour to shape the public opinion of countries as large as India.

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The Rights of ABC TV to entertain its audience with such fabrications does not stretch to "freedom of the press". It would be a serious mistake to feel that they are a victim of Russian censorship.

The british tv "channel 4" Basayev interview case was most probably approached on the same level of merits.

ABC TV deserve to discredited.