ABC NEWS PRESIDENT APOLOGIZES FOR 'NO OPINION' ON PENTAGON AS TARGET; DISNEY EXECUTIVES ANGRY AT TERROR COMMENTS
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XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED OCT 31, 2001 15:00:35 ET XXXXX
ABC News President David Westin, 48, an attorney who joined ABC as general counsel in 1991 and came to ABC News with no journalism or hands-on television production experience, found himself at the center of a growing mediafirestorm after saying he had no opinion if the Pentagon was a legitimate target for terrorists.
Westin's Pentagon rant caused anger at the highest level of DISNEY, ABC's parent, it has been learned.
Westin on Wednesday abruptly apologized for the controversial comments made last week in New York -- but only after his comments reached the DRUDGE REPORT, a news spokesman claimed!
"There was no pressure from anyone, Mr. Westin issued the apology after seeing the headline on the DRUDGE REPORT," an ABC NEWS spokesman said.
Westin was under no pressure from corporate to ammend his comments, a second network source insisted.
Appearing at a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism event last week, the president of news at the AMERICAN BROADCASTING' COMPANY declared:: "The Pentagon as a legitimate target? I actually don’t have an opinion on that."
Westin explained that his role as a journalist is just to present fact, not opinion:
"I can say the Pentagon got hit, I can say this is what their position is, this is what our position is, but for me to take a position this was right or wrong, I mean, that’s perhaps for me in my private life... but as a journalist I feel strongly that’s something that I should not be taking a position on."
[Westin's theory on journalism evolved from comments made at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena in 1998: "In a world where there is too much information and, frankly, too little explanation, viewers put an increasing premium on someone who will explain to them not just what happened but why it matters, why it's important..."]
On Wednesday ABC issued a press release with Westin turning away from his Columbia University controversy.
"When asked at an interview session at the Columbia Journalism School whether I believed that the Pentagon was a legitimate target for terrorists I responded that, as a journalist, I did not have an opinion. I was wrong," said Westin.
"I gave an answer to journalism students to illustrate the broad, academic principle that all journalists should draw a firm line between what they know and what their personal opinion might be. Upon reflection, I realized that my answer did not address the specifics of September 11. Under any interpretation, the attack on the Pentagon was criminal and entirely without justification. I apologize for any harm that my misstatement may have caused."
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(c)DRUDGE REPORT 2001Objectivity Lesson: ABC News Chief Apologizes
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2001; Page C01ABC News President David Westin apologized yesterday for saying that journalists should offer no opinion about the terrorist attack that killed 189 people at the Pentagon.
"I was wrong. . . . Under any interpretation, the attack on the Pentagon was criminal and entirely without justification," he said in a statement. "I apologize for any harm that my misstatement may have caused."
Westin's rapid backpedaling came shortly after his remarks to a Columbia University journalism school forum were trumpeted on the Web by columnist Matt Drudge. A New York Post editorial yesterday also chided Westin, saying, "He's not about to make a judgment that the murder of scores of Americans without provocation or warning is necessarily wrong. . . . Is he for real?"
At last week's Columbia forum, later broadcast by C-SPAN, the attorney-turned-journalist was asked whether "the Pentagon was a legitimate military target."
"I actually don't have an opinion on that," Westin replied, "and it's important I not have an opinion on that as I sit here in my capacity right now. The way I conceive my job running a news organization, and the way I would like all the journalists at ABC News to perceive it, is there is a big difference between a normative position and a positive position.
"Our job is to determine what is, not what ought to be, and when we get into the job of what ought to be, I think we're not doing a service to the American people. I can say the Pentagon got hit. I can say this is what their position is, this is what our position is, but for me to take a position this was right or wrong, I mean that's perhaps for me in my private life. . . . But as a journalist I feel strongly that's something that I should not be taking a position on."
The problem is that Westin sounded as if he was taking a moral pass on mass murder.
"Like all Americans, I was horrified at the loss of life at the Pentagon, as well as in New York and Pennsylvania on September 11," he said in yesterday's statement. He said he was trying to draw a distinction between journalistic duties and personal opinion but that "upon reflection, I realized that my answer did not address the specifics of September 11."
Drudge said he enjoyed skewering Westin, who tried to block the network from hiring the Internet gossip for a syndicated radio show, which was later dropped by ABC last year.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company