European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 20, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Rather and the networks invasion of Somalia by Howard Rosenberg los Angeles times because personalities Are thought to be the key to ratings maximizing the messenger is an old television news tradition. Thus on a recent tuesday morning lbs news arranged a conference Call interview Between to critics in the United states and Dan rather in Mogadishu Somalia. Perhaps 75 percent of the questions were not about Somalia or the  Mission there but about rather himself. Not just rather the reporter but Dan the Man. And the Anchor a who fronted the lbs evening news from Mogadishu and dominated the networks coverage of the Somalia Story a did not pull any punches in giving his answers a i want to know How your flak jacket is holding  a a in a not wearing  and a How much physical danger do you feel Quot a a it a real and  one critic wanted to know How rather was responding a was a human being to seeing starving somalis. A not very Well a he said. A i will not come out of Here the same person i came  somewhere across the Long distance line a word processor clicked noisily recording rather swords. The questions continued. Was rather finding it difficult to eat was he staying in a hotel had he come under fire would he describe his typical Day in Mogadishu a How much sleep if any Are you getting a a critic asked a and can you keep up a Pace like that a rather said he slept a when i can and added that although he hated to admit it earlier that Day yes a i was  the word processor clicked. A Dan a another critic asked. A Are you protected in some Way a rather replied that when he arrived in Mogadishu last week he was met at the Airport by an armed Sedan rather a i done to consider myself a big  purity guard consisting of an elderly Man and two boys 11 and 13. But he also said emphatically a i like to think my experience and my savvy is the Protection i  asked How he Felt being around children toting guns rather responded that some nights he lies in bed wondering a what in the hell is All this about a another questioner wondered if rather thought that had he a and the other network big guns been there in Somalia two weeks earlier the troops would have been there earlier  rather said he did no to think so. Besides he added a i done to consider myself a big  which of course was Why he was holding this press  a a operation oops another tradition of to news is its frequent depiction of anchors As sages for All seasons icons of knowledge concerning every Story they re plugged into. How arc the pontificator doing in Somalia network anchors and other reporters arc a promulgating All these inaccuracies a charges Anna Simons who has lived in Somalia and now teaches anthropology at the University of California los Angeles. Amina Adan a somali who teaches history at Orange coast College agrees. A the image of somalis is being distorted and destroyed a Simons said. A to describe Somalia As an 18th-Century agrarian society As no cd a Tom Brokaw did More than once is to do an injustice to All  Simons said that Brokaw while reporting from the Mogadishu Airport described somalis As being a awestruck and amazed by . Military transports and other technology. A in fact there a been a military presence in Somalia before a Simons said a and somalis have seen air planes  Simons also criticized Brokaw a repeated Blanket description of gun toting somalis As a a yahoos As an insult to a Large segment of the population. A you can to Tell a Good somali from a bad somali a she said. Moreover Simons and Adan agree that the to coverage has tended to present somalis As a Monolith by making the Southeastern capital City of Mogadishu a where . Forces landed a a metaphor for the entire country. A a there a Only a Little Triangle of the country where All of this violence and mass starvation is going on a said Adan who is from Somaliland the Northern Section of Somalia that was once a British Colony. A i Challenge the Media to go to Somaliland. There they will Sec somalis who have not been helped by everyone and who have helped themselves and where for two years there was not a single shot  Simons and Adan also agree that anchors and reporters have misinformed viewers by reporting that somalis get a a stoned from continually chewing a a cd like Plant known As khat thereby creating an image of drugged up gunslingers whose senses have been impaired. Simons said she has heard lbs health correspondent Bob Arnot liken khat to valium and others describe it As having the effect of alcohol. A in fact its a stimulant that keeps people awake and Lucid a Simons said. A it does not impair anything a Adan said. Instead both women wonder what is impairing  full of the boobs on the tube Barry Dutter has written and Rick Parker has illustrated a softcover Book titled everything / really need to know 1 Learned from television. This is a Wise Book. For example a a if you re a private Eye and you fall in love while looking for a killer the person you fall in love with will turn out to be the killer. A a a most High school students Are about 30 years old and some attend High school for up to five or six  a a your car will always Start whenever you need it to a unless you re being chased by a deranged killer a a a the High Point of any courtroom trial is the announcement of the Surprise  a a if a woman is running away from someone she will trip and fall every single  All True. However there is another Book to be written about television. I would title it everything i really need to know i Learned from television talk shows during ratings sweeps. For example a there Are lots of conservative teen age girls who think their mothers dress too sexily and they will go on National television and argue with their mothers about this while a concerned talk show Host tries to Calm them. A there Are also lots of thin teen age girls who claim their fat mothers Are jealous of them and these mothers will stuff their Mouths with food while rebutting their daughters complaints. A women whose husbands attempt to murder them still love these husbands and will jump at the Chance to Tell America Why. A there Are Many Many 75-year-old women who Are married to 21-year-old men who Wear Bolo ties and they All have great sex. A big breasted women and average breasted women Are natural enemies and they Are eager to shake their breasts at each other and Call each other names while America watches. A White supremacists and african americans do not get along and will scream at each other shocking aghast talk show hosts whose quests for knowledge illumination and peace on Earth sometimes go awry. A Many men like to Wear skirts in Public. A when a woman who has been separated from her sister for 45 years is a guest on a talk show that sister will Surprise her on the show and make her and the shows Host cry. A psychologists spend All their time appearing on talk shows and advising guests How to straighten out their lives. A Many women like to Wear skirts in Public. But no  a a the Gripe line no brainer visuals department if i see any More news footage of Bill Clinton jogging ill dynamite my set. Howard Rosenberg december 20, 1992 sunday a Page 11