CBS anchor Schieffer calls war coverage ‘extraordinary’

Tuesday, April 8, 2003 | 9:25 a.m.

Bob Schieffer, anchor and moderator of CBS News' "Face the Nation," said Monday that technology is bringing the war in Iraq onto living room TV screens in a way that was impossible when he covered Vietnam as a reporter.

Schieffer is in Las Vegas for the meeting of the Radio-Television News Directors Association and National Association of Broadcasters.

For four months in 1965, Schieffer told the story of Texans sent to Vietnam while he was writing for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Schieffer described the current war coverage as "extraordinary."

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld pushed the military to take journalists to the field in Iraq, said Schieffer, 66.

The up-close experiences of "embedded" journalists have eased some of the hostilities between the Defense Department and reporters, Schieffer said. And they are bringing the horror of war home.

"This is not just ... basketball," Schieffer said. "This is a war."

Schieffer did say he is bothered by the sound effects used by cable and traditional news programs to introduce war stories.

"I think it almost violates the first rule of journalism -- you don't have to embellish a story, a good story tells itself," he said. "It almost scares me when the TV set goes 'boom,' and all those graphics."

One journalism student asked Schieffer if he thought the national media, especially Washington reporters, asked questions that were tough enough before the start of the war.

"I think they asked every question you could ask," Schieffer said. "There is no question we face a very serious threat from terrorism."

Although Schieffer has known President Bush for years, the veteran journalist said the weakest link for the war in Iraq is a tie to the terrorist attacks in the United States.

"I do think President Bush has a pretty good BS detector, and by BS I don't mean Bob Schieffer," he said.

Schieffer came to Las Vegas to accept the Paul White Award on Monday night. White was the first news director of CBS.

Mark Millage, who introduced Schieffer, said Andrew Card, Bush's chief of staff, had high praise for Schieffer, calling him "a journalist, not an entertainer."

In his new book, "This Just In: What I Couldn't Tell You on TV," Schieffer reflects on his 40 years in journalism.

"I just wanted to tell some stories that journalists tell each other," Schieffer said. "As I wrote the book, one of the things I came to realize even more is what a great life I've had. I've really had a lot of fun."