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Monday marked the evening news debut of Condoleezza Rice as an in-house Contributor for CBS. For more than two years now, CBS has led the way in coverage of Syria, portraying the increasingly embattled regime of Bashar al-Assad as having to resort to desperate measures against growing opposition forces in order to avoid its own decapitation.
Now Rice stands that reporting on its head, portraying the Baath regime as on the offensive, part of Iran's advancing regional coalition. Rice's first foray into journalism gave no indication that she has grasped the difference between this new role, and her previous incarnations in the national security establishment, as NSC Advisor and Secretary of State.
Take her first soundbite. What she appeared to be saying was: "The violence in Syria must stop." What she actually said: "There is no doubt that it is time for the United States to make clear that it is going to engage in this effort to stop the difficult situation in Syria." Diplomats may be trained to be longwinded and obfuscatory. Journalists are supposed to be clear and concise.
Next, anchor Scott Pelley asked her to explain the nature of the crisis. Study her responses: first, it is a humanitarian problem, because the "difficult situation in Syria" must stop; then it is one of diplomatic stability, with the "Middle East state system as we know it" at stake; lastly it is geo-strategic, with Iran and its allies "on the march," threatening Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Diplomats may be trained to pile one rationale onto another. Journalists are supposed to separate and prioritize.
Lastly, Rice devoted her segment to asserting -- without weighing costs and benefits, without assessing risks and consequences -- that it is imperative for the United States to use military force to intervene in the Middle East once more. It "does not have an option of no action." Diplomats may be trained to lobby the public on national security policy by, for example, portraying choices as inevitabilities. Journalists are supposed to elucidate those options, so the public will be better informed when it encounters such lobbying.
Someone at CBS should go over this video with Contributor Rice and show her how she is undercutting the network's journalism, rather than contributing to it.
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