Tony Kevin’s failed CNN interview on Fallujah on 10 November – the documentary record.

Last week, following the appearance of my opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald of Tuesday 9 November 2004 arguing why I thought the pending US attack on the Iraqi city of Fallujah would be a war crime

"All the makings of a war crime - with Australia silently onside"

http://www.tonykevin.com/WarCrime1.html

CNN Hong Kong (Natalie Jacob-Scharli, Guest Producer, CNN International) phoned me to invite me to give a live interview to CNN on this topic. I agreed with pleasure, while mentally congratulating CNN on its editorial courage in taking on such a big topic. I soon received an email from Jacob-Scharli asking me to do the interview at the ANU videconferencing facility at 11.35am the next day, Wednesday. Jacob-Scharli also sent an email to videoconference@anu.edu.au, asking them to accommodate this interview and booking videoconferencing facilities from 11.20 am to 11.50 am.

What happened when I went for the interview is recorded in this media release which I sent out at 2.16 pm:

Media Release, 10 November 2004: Technical disruption of a CNN interview with Tony Kevin, regarding what is happening in Fallujah

This morning, sophisticated technical means were used to disrupt a scheduled and pre-announced CNN International television news interview with me at 11.35 am Australian time, that had been requested and arranged yesterday by CNN Hong Kong, following the publication of my controversial opinion piece in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald, 9 November 2004:

"All the makings of a war crime – with Australia silently onside", by Tony Kevin

The text is still accessible on-line (capture it while you can) at

http://smh.com.au/articles/2004/11/08/1099781320025.html

I do not know whether Australian or United States technical security agencies, or a combination of the two, were involved in or sanctioned this interference, which left the technical staff of CNN Hong Kong and of the ANU Video-Conferencing Facility entirely non-plussed.

Both offices have extensive and sophisticated fail-safe systems in place, including multiple channels and numbers. Nothing worked, though they tried for over an hour to establish a two-way video connection. ANU technical staff told me they had never encountered a problem like this before – it was outside their normal experience.

The managerial response at CNN Hong Kong was disturbing also. Initially, CNN staff in Hong Kong set up a fall-back audio telephone link which I was happy to use.

That link was working perfectly, but then it appears that the CNN Head Office in Atlanta, USA instructed the Hong Kong Station Managing Editor, Paul Cutler, that station policy was not to do telephone-audio recording.

I was flatly told by Cutler, personally and with apologies, that the interview was cancelled.

I resisted this strenuously, noting that the interview had already been announced on CNN a few minutes before I was due to go on air (I heard the pre-announcement) and that the station’s reputation as a free public broadcaster was at stake.

As a result, CNN Hong Kong tried unsuccessfully to re-establish the video connection for the 12.35 pm slot. Again, the connection was inoperable.

The initial program producer, Natalie Jacob- Scharli, then left me a phone message saying that CNN Hong Kong would try to reschedule the interview in coming days. We shall see.

I am frightened to think that my own small voice can be so threatening to those who are now killing large numbers of innocent Iraqi civilians in Fallujah, and destroying what is left of their city , that they have to try to block me from reaching a CNN international audience.

I wonder to what extent Australian security authorities might be involved in, or might have authorised, this interference with my right as an Australian citizen to free speech, and CNN’s right as an America-based international television broadcaster to broadcast my view that the present US attack on Fallujah is a war crime ?

The only way to defend our freedom is to exercise it. I am exercising my freedom as an Australian in putting out this media release on this very unsettling incident.

I hope Australian media will exercise their freedom by reporting this and following it up.

For further enquiries and documentation:

Tony Kevin 02 6295 6588 or 0414 822 171.

Email tonykevin@grapevine.com.au

website www.tonykevin.com

--

This media release was quickly picked up on Indymedia, Project Safecom and other alternative internet sites. Also, The Australian ran a report on the matter the next day, 11 November:

"Suspicious technical glitch?

TECHNICAL failures are a common occurrence in live TV, but the cancellation of a TV interview with academic Tony Kevin, a former Australian diplomat, was so unusual Kevin blames the Australian and-or US governments for engineering it. "This morning, sophisticated technical means were used to disrupt a scheduled and pre-announced CNN International television news interview with me at 11.35am Australian time that had been requested and arranged yesterday by CNN Hong Kong, following the publication of my controversial opinion piece in yesterday's The Sydney Morning Herald, November 9, 2004: 'All the makings of a war crime – with Australia silently onside'. I am frightened to think that my own small voice can be so threatening to those who are now killing large numbers of innocent Iraqi civilians in Fallujah, and destroying what is left of their city, that they have to try to block me from reaching a CNN international audience." Make up your own mind."

I received the following email from Paul Cutler at 5.19 pm on Wednesday 10 October:

"Dear Tony,

Further to our discussions this morning, I can inform you that there were legitimate technical problems for our failure to connect with the ANU Polycom in Canberra today.

Following further tests, we have now discovered that the ANU have installed new teleconferencing gear since the last time we used them about a month ago.

They did not inform us of this change and so no test had taken place using their new equipment.

They have installed a VideoTel conferencing box which does not appear to be directly compatible with our Polycom VX 7000.

While our box is capable of deciphering many different video signals, it relies on being able to communicate with the device at the other end to find out what system it is using.

Our box will then adapt to the remote site. However, it appears that the VideoTel does not communicate with our box, so we cannot decrypt their signal.

ANU is currently seeing if they can change the settings of their equipment to work with ours, but the results of these tests have not yet been completed.

Our technical staff have asked us to hold off booking anyone from the ANU site until these issues are resolved.

I trust this explanation will satisfy you that there were no sinister motives for the breakdown today. It was simply a result of incompatible systems.

Paul Cutler

Managing Editor Asia Pacific, CNN International, 40F, Oxford House, Taikoo Place, 979 King's Road, Quarry Bay Hong Kong

work: 852-3128-3249 mobile: 852-9261-0050."

I immediately replied, at 5.28 pm:

"Dear Paul,

Thank you for your message.

I am sure there are other videoconferencing facilities you could book me into for tomorrow morning, eg at ABC Canberra, SBS Canberra, or in one of the many commercial media studios at Parliament House.

I am more than ready to re-do the interview tomorrow at one of these alternative sites.

When we re-do it, and it goes to air on CNN, I will publish an immediate retraction and apology for what has gone out in my name today. That is the only honourable course of action, embarrassing to me as it would be.

I am also prepared to make this apology live in the CNN interview if you wish.

Over to you.

Best

Tony Kevin."

There was no immediate reply to this. I sent two follow-up messages the next day, at 9.25am and 1.32pm on 11 November, repeating my suggestion that CNN use an alternative videoconferencing facility in Canberra.

I then received the following message from Paul Cutler at 2.18pm on 11 November:

"Dear Mr Kevin,

Sorry for the late response, but I have been in a series of daily editorial meetings.

Unfortuately, we are now unable to re-schedule our proposed interview with you.

I apologise again for the technical difficulties which prevented us from completing the interview Wednesday.

I trust you will make public my explanation, sent to you yesterday, for the Polycom breakdown, given the fact that your allegations have been reported in some newspapers and websites.

And of course, you will be able to double check with the technical staff at the ANU studios the reasons for the equipment failure.

Thank you once again for taking the trouble to go to the ANU for the original interview.

Best Regards

Paul Cutler

P.S. Apologies for leaving the "Mr" out of my original response - so easy to do with such a surname! "

I replied to Mr Cutler as follows, at 2.41pm:

"Dear Paul,

Thank you for your letter. I will in coming days make public our full correspondence on my website www.tonykevin.com .

Your position here would be fully defensible, had it not been for your manifest lack of interest in seeking alternative video-conferencing facilities in Canberra. This option was clearly open to you. You chose not to exercise it.

I assume this personally distressing episode - which started with your producer Natalie Jacob-Scharli's invitation to me on Tuesday to be interviewed on CNN - means that I have now been blacklisted by CNN as a future Australian speaker on international affairs. This is how dissent is silenced and pushed to the margins of public discourse.

My conscience is clear. I acted professionally and honourably in this matter. I used to admire CNN, and I wish that I still could.

Regards,

Tony Kevin."

 

ASSESSMENT

So, was it indeed an unforeseen technical transmission problem – did I over-react, and have I done CNN a public injustice?

Maybe so, in which case I sincerely apologise. But to accept this, one would also have to accept that the ANU videoconferencing facility professional staff had not tested their reportedly installed new equipment with regular overseas clients like CNN berforehand; that despite over one hour of trying, it was impossible for the two technical staffs to establish systems compatability on the day; that the fact that nobody mentioned this as a potential cause of the problem to me during the hour I was waiting at ANU videoconferencing facility does not mean it is not the case; that CNN’s decision not to use an available audio link to interview me was really standard CNN policy in situations like this; and that Mr Cutler’s decision not to seek alternative videoconferencing facilities elsewhere in Canberra simply reflected his personal judgement that the news moment for this CNN-requested interview had passed.

Readers may judge for themselves.

See also, as a broader context for what happened, a forthcoming commentary on this website on how the world mainstream and alternate media reported the Fallujah siege last week.

Tony Kevin, Canberra 16 November 2004