Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Some Foxy war reporting

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 8:30 a.m.

Sure enough, Geraldo didn't disappoint his critics when, last week, he became the story. Never mind those Special Forces troops or Marines; it was Geraldo, on live television, telling us he was ducking the bullets of a sniper. Even while gagging I noted that the camera didn't move and, no, I didn't hear that ping, zing, ding or bing of a bullet. According to Geraldo "it was close." Great, just like his studio shows, Geraldo was the show and center of attention.

This week I opened one of my favorite morning newspapers, the Los Angeles Times, to see almost a full page dedicated to a story headlined, "War's Dangers Bond Journalists." It was all about the journalists covering the war in Afghanistan. The writer, David Shaw, always makes his reports interesting. Very simply, Shaw is a good writer and reporter.

Shaw's report on reporters did hold my attention when reading the rumor that Taliban leaders are offering a bounty of $50,000 to $100,000 for the killing of Western journalists. Several paragraphs were dedicated to stressing how dangerous it is for reporters covering the war and their reasons given for being there to write about what's happening.

An editor decorated Shaw's story with a large photo of Rivera who "dives for cover after a sniper opened fire as he was broadcasting a report last week from Tora Bora." I just couldn't escape Rivera, not even when reading my morning paper. Of course, Shaw did include Rivera in his story as follows:

"How about guns? Geraldo Rivera of Fox News says he's carrying one. Rivera says he realizes his gun is useless against armed soldiers -- as he found out Thursday morning when he was taping a report from a hilltop in Tora Bora, where U.S. forces are focusing their hunt for Osama bin Laden. A sniper fired two shots at Rivera, and he dove to the ground while the bullets whizzed by, 'close enough to hear ... within inches.' "

Tunku Varadarajan wasn't as kind to the Fox showman when writing in the Wall Street Journal. After telling readers that Rivera carries a gun and is surrounded by "four, five, six armed guards" plus 20 porters to carry his gear, it becomes obvious that Fox is taking better care of its showman than any other company is caring for career reporters.

Don't laugh, but it, as Varadarajan writes, has all paid off for Fox. "Last Thursday came the apogee, the Perfect Moment, in which Mr. Rivera, while taping a segment near Tora Bora, was apparently shot at by a sniper. We heard a ping (or was it a zing?); Mr. Rivera fell to the ground, microphone still in hand, and carried on with his commentary, a tad breathless. Of the bullet, he revealed later that, 'I won't say it parted my hair, but it was close.' At last, here was the footage Fox had been waiting for -- the money shot, as it were -- and the network has replayed it ad nauseam."

Is this what Americans want to see and hear when searching for news from Afghanistan? I doubt it, as most of them already had their guts full of showbiz long before September 11, 2001. Because of the efforts of some real reporters, we know something about what is happening over there. Some flag-covered coffins coming home tell us more of the real story.

I had hopes for Fox because of its great coverage during the days following the Twin Towers and Pentagon tragedies. But as Varadarajan writes, "Once again, we're being sold a lifestyle -- that of the homeboy mixing it with bandidos. This is a jejune genre, a fallback on a familiar entertainment formula. Here, showbiz invokes showbiz in the guise of news. And ignorance, as always, prevails."

Despite this distraction, we know that soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and other fighting Americans are doing jobs that make us proud of them. For them, it's a matter of life and death and not the first act of a three-act play.