September 5 - Perception of Success in Challenging Situations
Roone Arledge:
I know it might not feel like it, but you did a great job today.
Geoffrey Mason:
It was a catastrophe.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
September 5 - Germany's Failure and Innocent Lives Lost
Geoffrey Mason:
Are you alright?
Marianne Gebhardt:
No... Innocent people died in Germany again. We failed. Germany failed.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
September 5 - Media Sensitivity in Reporting on Conflict
Peter Jennings: [over the phone]
Whatever conception you have of Arabia or Arabs, you need to understand how sensitive this situation is. This is no longer the Olympics.
Marvin Bader:
Thank you, Peter, for, uh, clarifying. It does bring up a good question. What should we call them on the air?
Peter Jennings:
In News, we would refer to them as commando guerrillas.
Roone Arledge:
Commando? That sounds like we're in Vietnam or something.
Geoffrey Mason:
What was it they called them in German radio?
Marianne Gebhardt:
Terrorists.
Roone Arledge:
What was that?
Marianne Gebhardt:
They used "terrorists.
Roone Arledge:
Okay. Let's... let's go with that.
Peter Jennings:
That's a charged term. Terrorism is the organized and systematic use of violence against civilians to affect a political goal.
Marvin Bader:
Isn't that pretty much what's happening here?
Peter Jennings:
Nobody knows yet what is happening here. So we have to be very careful about everything we say on air.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
September 5 - Crisis Management Amidst Uncertainty and Overwhelm
Marvin Bader: [about the terrorists having access to the ABC coverage]
Then they should have cut the electricity to the apartment! It's not up to us to double-check on them.
Geoffrey Mason:
That... Marv, it's not okay if we made it worse. You know that.
Marvin Bader:
We don't even know why they called it off. The Germans seem generally pretty overwhelmed.
Marianne Gebhardt:
They are. I'm listening to the police radio; it's local cops doing things they have never done before. The German Army gave them sniper rifles and had to instruct them on how to use them.
Geoffrey Mason:
Why doesn't the German Army just do it itself?
Marianne Gebhardt:
They're not allowed to operate here. German Constitution.
Geoffrey Mason:
That's ridiculous!
Marvin Bader:
The rumor is Israel offered to send a special unit to help them out, and that Germany refused it.
Marianne Gebhardt:
They are just making one mistake after another and trying to act like they've got it all under control.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.
September 5 - Debate on the Nature of Statements
Geoffrey Mason:
We never said it was a fact. We used, "As we are hearing".
Marvin Bader:
That's a fucking technicality, Geoff.
Quotes sourced from Wikiquote (© Wikiquote contributors), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Modified for formatting/length.