Maurice “Reese” Schonfeld, who helped found CNN with Ted Turner and created the early breakout show Crossfire but later had a well publicized falling out with the controversial billionaire, died Tuesday from complications of Alzheimer’s disease at his home in Manhattan. He was 88.
His death was announced by CNN, widow Pat O’Gorman and daughter Juliette Reverand. O’Gorman told the cable news network: “He loved CNN. He was very proud of it. It was a good time for him.”
Born in Newark, NJ, Schonfeld began his own business in 1975 providing news footage to local TV stations, and in 1979 joined Atlanta businessman Turner to launch a nationwide news endeavor to be called CNN, combining his TV experience with Turner’s deep pockets.
According to CNN, Schonfeld was responsible for hiring many of the new network’s news anchors who would quickly become the channel’s first generation of well-known journalists: Bernard Shaw,...
His death was announced by CNN, widow Pat O’Gorman and daughter Juliette Reverand. O’Gorman told the cable news network: “He loved CNN. He was very proud of it. It was a good time for him.”
Born in Newark, NJ, Schonfeld began his own business in 1975 providing news footage to local TV stations, and in 1979 joined Atlanta businessman Turner to launch a nationwide news endeavor to be called CNN, combining his TV experience with Turner’s deep pockets.
According to CNN, Schonfeld was responsible for hiring many of the new network’s news anchors who would quickly become the channel’s first generation of well-known journalists: Bernard Shaw,...
- 7/30/2020
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
John Laing’s film follows journalist Peter Arnett in his pursuit of an interview with the then little-known Osama bin Laden.
UK outfit Moviehouse Entertainment has added New Zealand drama A War Story to its Cannes sales slate.
Directed by John Laing and produced by James Heyward and Chris Hampson, the film stars John Leigh (The Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers) as Pulitzer Prize-winning CNN reporter Peter Arnett, who embarks on a life-defining pursuit for an interview with the then little-known Osama bin Laden.
The deal was negotiated by A War Story executive producer Grant Bradley, who commented: “We...
UK outfit Moviehouse Entertainment has added New Zealand drama A War Story to its Cannes sales slate.
Directed by John Laing and produced by James Heyward and Chris Hampson, the film stars John Leigh (The Lord Of The Rings: Two Towers) as Pulitzer Prize-winning CNN reporter Peter Arnett, who embarks on a life-defining pursuit for an interview with the then little-known Osama bin Laden.
The deal was negotiated by A War Story executive producer Grant Bradley, who commented: “We...
- 5/13/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
NEW YORK -- As television networks displayed historic pictures out of Baghdad on Wednesday, Americans were beginning to indicate that they are hungry for other news as well, according to a Pew Research Center poll. The fall of Baghdad emboldened two networks -- CNN and NBC -- to make plans to send their reporters back into the Iraqi capital. But a Fox News Channel spokeswoman said the network wants to make sure the city is safe for its correspondents before sending them in. CNN said that Nic Robertson, Jim Clancy and chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour will return to Baghdad during the next couple of days, three weeks after Iraqi authorities expelled Robertson, Ryn Brahimi and their crew. Former Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf will remain in northern Iraq for now, CNN said. NBC News said that reporters Jim Maceda and Ron Allen will return to the city shortly. That will give the network its first presence in the capital since it dismissed Peter Arnett on March 31. NBC and ABC's own reporters left the city voluntarily as hostilities began March 19, and free-lancer Richard Engel has been reporting for ABC News since then. ABC said it had no plans to send in more reporters.
- 4/10/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CBS News returned to Baghdad Friday morning when correspondent Lara Logan returned to the city she reluctantly left on March 19 when network officials feared for her safety, CBS said Friday. Logan returned with a convoy of journalists, including Portugal TV, and Canada's CBC and has set up shop at the city's Palestine Hotel. Iraqi authorities had been limiting journalists to feeding from the Ministry of Information, but the government has apparently allowed Logan's crew to put a satellite uplink on the roof of her hotel. She is expected to file a report on Friday's "CBS Evening News", a spokeswoman said. Logan is the only full-time network correspondent now reporting in Baghdad, although ABC News has been airing reports from Richard Engel, an ABC Radio freelancer. NBC and MSNBC have relied on reports from Britain's ITN since it dismissed Peter Arnett earlier this week, while Fox is relying on reports from its U.K. sister company Sky Television. After the expulsion of its crew on March 20, CNN has used a freelance reporter for its Baghdad stories. The networks declined to say when they might return correspondents to the city.
Fox News Channel and MSNBC tussled in a war of words Wednesday over a Fox promo spot that referred to former NBC News/MSNBC contributor Peter Arnett's appearance on Iraqi TV. (Arnett was fired Monday by National Geographic Explorer, which airs on MSNBC, and was also dumped as a contributor to NBC News for that interview.) "He spoke out against America's armed forces," Fox's promo spot said. "He said America's war against terrorism had failed. He even vilified America's leadership ... and he worked for MSNBC. Ask yourself, is this 'America's News Channel'? Real journalism: fair and balanced. We report; you decide." Said MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines: "It's interesting that Fox News Channel now finds us relevant since several weeks ago, we were deemed irrelevant. I find it outrageous they would run this promo and continue to employ Geraldo Rivera." Fox was responding to a promo MSNBC ran Tuesday in which MSNBC said it would not do anything to endanger troops but did not refer specifically to Rivera -- who was forced out of Iraq after describing U.S. troop positions on air -- or Fox. Replied a Fox spokeswoman: "Sometimes we like playing against the J.V. MSNBC should be more concerned about being an embarrassment to (parent company) General Electric."...
Just when Peter Arnett's post-Operation Tailwind career rehabilitation campaign was hitting its peak, the veteran war correspondent made what he admitted was "a stupid misjudgment" in granting an interview to Iraqi state TV that Monday cost him his job with National Geographic Explorer and ended his burgeoning relationship with NBC News and MSNBC. Arnett appeared Monday morning on NBC's Today to apologize "to the American people" for comments he made in a 15-minute interview with Iraqi-controlled television, in which he strongly criticized the tactics of the U.S.-led war effort and praised Iraqi officials for their "courtesy" in allowing reporters to work in the country in the years since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. But by day's end, Arnett had been hired to cover the war by Britain's left-leaning tabloid the Daily Mirror, which carried a lengthy first-person story from its new correspondent on its Web site that was anything but contrite. "I am still in shock and awe at being fired," Arnett wrote. The U.S. government does not "want credible news organizations reporting from here because it presents them with enormous problems. ... The right-wing media and politicians are looking for any opportunity to be critical of the reporters who are here, whatever their nationality. I made the misjudgment which gave them the opportunity to do so." In dumping Arnett, officials with National Geographic and NBC News said Arnett's decision to discuss his opinions of U.S.-led operation was as much of a problem as his judgment call in granting an interview that was sure to be fodder for Iraqi propaganda efforts.
Just when Peter Arnett's post-Operation Tailwind career rehabilitation campaign was hitting its peak, the veteran war correspondent made what he admitted was "a stupid misjudgment" in granting an interview to Iraqi state TV that Monday cost him his job with National Geographic Explorer and ended his burgeoning relationship with NBC News and MSNBC. Arnett appeared Monday morning on NBC's Today to apologize "to the American people" for comments he made in a 15-minute interview with Iraqi-controlled television, in which he strongly criticized the tactics of the U.S.-led war effort and praised Iraqi officials for their "courtesy" in allowing reporters to work in the country in the years since the 1991 Persian Gulf War. But by day's end, Arnett had been hired to cover the war by Britain's left-leaning tabloid the Daily Mirror, which carried a lengthy first-person story from its new correspondent on its Web site that was anything but contrite. "I am still in shock and awe at being fired," Arnett wrote. The U.S. government does not "want credible news organizations reporting from here because it presents them with enormous problems. ... The right-wing media and politicians are looking for any opportunity to be critical of the reporters who are here, whatever their nationality. I made the misjudgment which gave them the opportunity to do so." In dumping Arnett, officials with National Geographic and NBC News said Arnett's decision to discuss his opinions of U.S.-led operation was as much of a problem as his judgment call in granting an interview that was sure to be fodder for Iraqi propaganda efforts.
NBC News is standing by correspondent Peter Arnett after he gave an interview to Iraqi TV in which he said the Bush administration had misjudged "the determination of the Iraqi armed forces and the government's willingness to fight for their country." Arnett, who is reporting for NBC and MSNBC through his role as a correspondent for National Geographic Explorer, also seemed to have nice things to say about Iraqi's Ministry of Information, saying it had "allowed me and many other reporters to cover 12 whole years since the Gulf War with a degree which we appreciate and this is continuing today," according to reports on Sunday. Iraqi TV aired the interview Sunday, but it is uncertain when it took place. NBC said in a statement that "Peter Arnett and his crew have risked their lives to bring the American people up-to-date, straightforward information on what is happening in and around Baghdad. His impromptu interview with Iraqi TV was done as a professional courtesy and was similar to other interviews he has done with media outlets from around the world. His remarks were analytical in nature and were not intended to be anything more." NBC said Arnett would continue to report for the company.
- 3/31/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Less than 12 hours after giving correspondent Peter Arnett a vote of confidence, NBC News abruptly reversed itself and severed its relationship with the Baghdad-based reporter after his interview with Iraqi TV sparked controversy in the U.S. In an interview that aired Sunday on Iraqi TV, Arnett said the U.S. has misjudged how much the Iraqis would resist its invasion and that the Bush administration had ignored his reports about the determination of their forces.
- 3/31/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Peter Arnett is taking "perverse pleasure" out of reporting from Baghdad for one of CNN's rivals, he told reporters Tuesday. Arnett is contributing to MSNBC and NBC News through his role as a reporter for "National Geographic Explorer", a two-hour documentary show MSNBC airs each week. The former CNN reporter, who was the lone television correspondent in Baghdad during the initial U.S. bombing of the city in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, talked about the intense hostilities to come and "misinformation" that has been presented by the Pentagon and the Iraqis in the past week. He also said he expected almost all of the reporters now in Baghdad to remain there, no matter how fierce the battle for the city gets. "I do get a perverse pleasure out of it. After all, CNN did dump me, I thought unfairly," the Pulitzer Prize winner said of working for MSNBC. That's a different tune than Arnett sang in earlier interviews, when he denied any bitterness toward his former employer, which failed to renew his contract following his 1998 Operation Tailwind report. The report alleged that American forces used nerve gas in 1970 during the Vietnam War. CNN eventually retracted the story. "I said CNN could have hung on with me," he said. "Tailwind was almost a death blow to my career as a correspondent. I was radioactive after Tailwind. You can't afford to make a serious mistake in journalism. You're dead." Arnett, 68, also gave some insight into the way CNN's Baghdad crew may have been expelled from the city Thursday, saying they lacked the political skills in dealing with the Iraqi authorities.
- 3/26/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CBS News, CNN and National Geographic's Peter Arnett continued to hang tough in Baghdad on Tuesday on the eve of war. Regarding CBS correspondent Lara Logan, CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said, "As of the moment, it looks like she is there and not leaving." Logan reported live Tuesday for CBS' The Early Show. Similarly, a CNN spokesman said reporters Nic Robertson and Rym Brahini traded off duties as they provided live reports from the city throughout the day. And Arnett reported live for NBC and MSNBC, which have successfully exploited MSNBC's relationship with National Geographic.
- 3/19/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- In his stern ultimatum to the Iraqi government, President Bush on Monday urged foreign journalists to vacate the country immediately in anticipation of possible U.S. military action. Bush, in a televised address to the nation, gave Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his sons 48 hours to go into exile or the United States will attack "at a time of our choosing." The ultimatum also served as a warning for journalists, inspectors, diplomats and others to get out, Bush said. ABC and NBC pulled their reporters hours before Bush went on television, while other networks were still assessing the situation at press time. NBC did confirm Monday that veteran news correspondent Peter Arnett will file live reports from Baghdad for NBC and MSNBC. Arnett, who vowed to remain in the city for as long as possible, is employed by National Geographic and has been reporting from Iraq for more than three weeks for its "Explorer" series on MSNBC. Arnett, who has covered 19 wars during a 40-year career, earned a Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for his reporting on the Vietnam War. He also was one of three CNN reporters who in 1991 provided continuous coverage of the first night of the Allied Forces' bombing of Baghdad during Operation Desert Storm. The cable and broadcast networks agreed Monday to share video out of Baghdad during the first 24 hours of any war, much as they did in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy. ABC and Fox, however, don't have correspondents in the city, while Fox withdrew a month ago on orders from the Iraqi government.
- 3/18/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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