Soccer Dad

Peter Jennings remembered

I guess it's not sporting of me to speak ill of the dead. But here's how the Washington Post describes Peter Jennings' coverage of the Munich massacre:

He was at the Summer Olympics in Munich on Sept. 5, 1972, when Arab terrorists seized and killed Israeli athletes. Familiar with the history and goals of the Black September terrorist group, Jennings filed a series of reports and moved his camera crew close enough to get clear pictures of the terrorists, a risk that "displayed considerable moxie," Barbara Matusow wrote in "The Evening Stars: The Making of the Network News Anchor." She called the reports "among the most gripping episodes ever shown on live television."

Here's what Martin Peretz wrote in the New Republic, March 18, 1985:

The first time I ever remember being conscious of Jennings at all was in September 1972, only hours after the murder by Palestinian terrorists of the Israeli Olympic athletes in Munich. Jennings came on the tube, quite cool about the victims but, as I recall, eager to explain the act from the victimizers' point of view: the massacre was a demonstration of the misunderstood and esperate Palestinians' frustration at an unappeased grievance--as if they had not had from the beginning the option of a negotiated compromise for peace. With authoritatively clipped speech and a mannequin-handsome face, I thought, here was someone whose banalities were destined to be with us for years.

(As I've noted before, Jennings wrote a letter to the New Republic protesting that characterization; but Peretz remained unconvinced.)
Not everything was hunky dory, though, not even in the sanitized Washington Post obituary:

His years at the helm were not without glitches. He, along with the other major networks, prematurely and erroneously reported that Democratic nominee Al Gore won Florida in the 2000 presidential election.

And what about his infamous "temper tantrum" comment after the 1994 elections?
The Post continues:

Jennings was frequently accused of liberal bias by conservative media watchdog organizations and of pro-Palestinian bias by Israeli partisans.

In response to 1, see "temper tantrum" above. In response to 2, see "Munich massacre" above. (And no mention of his dalliance with Hanan Ashrawi.)
But we do learn:

A 2004 commentary in a journalism trade magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, dismissed criticism that ABC's newscast was "antiwar," noting that "despite the pressure to be a cheerleader, World News Tonight with Peter Jennings was more probing during the war than its rivals. The center's antiwar label is looking like ABC's red badge of courage."

Not antiwar?
I'm not going to say that we're better off without him. But clearly Jennings wasn't deserving of the virtually uncritical praise he received in that obituary.
Crossposted on Israpundit and Soccer Dad.

Posted by SoccerDad at August 8, 2005 6:07 AM | TrackBack