WAR DEMANDS DECISIONS ABOUT FOREIGN NEWS COVERAGE.

Byline: David Kronke Television Writer

PASADENA - Americans through necessity became more interested in foreign news in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, but TV news executives are divided on whether that fascination may be waning. And their opinions on the subject seem to be related to the amount of money they have to spend on overseas coverage.

Executives from broadcast and cable news divisions discussed Wednesday the challenges they faced on the day of the attacks and during the subsequent war in Afghanistan. Steve Friedman, executive producer of CBS' ``The Early Show,'' said that early on Sept. 11, the network received a report that as many as a dozen planes were poised to strike in the United States. ``This was the first time I was in a control room and said to myself, 'I don't know what the hell is going to happen.' I was scared stiff.''

Marcy McGinnis, senior vice president of CBS news coverage, recalled, ``(A reporter) came walking into our news room covered in white soot. She looked like she was going to have a heart attack, she was shaking. On one hand, I wanted to comfort her, and on the other hand, I wanted to get her on the set with Dan (Rather). 'Are you OK enough to go on TV?' ''

Taking a deep breath

But not all the networks were interested in spiking their coverage with added drama. ABC News correspondent John Miller remembered, ``There was a lot of breathless reporting out there, and Peter Jennings has the incredible ability to slow down the roller coaster, especially on the downhill slopes, and question you, sometimes on the air: 'How do you know that? Why do you think that?' and get those things qualified.''

CNN news anchor Aaron Brown has become one of CNN's star assets since Sept. 11, which, ironically, was his first day on the job. His straightforward, unreconstructed style of addressing his audience as if he's not behind an anchor's desk has connected with viewers. He, too, credited Jennings, saying the ABC anchor informed his own approach.

``I learned watching Peter manage special reports,'' Brown said. ``He was the best ever - he never got ahead of the story. Though there were a thousand things I'd do differently, I stayed calm and measured. I never presumed anything. At least 50 times that day, I said, 'Here's where we are and here's what we know.' I learned that from Peter.

``Honestly, I was pretty stunned by all of it,'' Brown added of his sudden stardom (he now anchors, among other things, CNN's prime-time news hour, ``NewsNight''). ``With such a horrific event, a kind of transference is going on - you shared this horrible event in American life with viewers and they with you. I try to talk to viewers, not at them or over them.''

Brown's emphasis on exuding honesty rather than omnipotent authority has likewise won him fans. ``I don't pretend to know something I don't,'' he said. ``Some reporters are uncomfortable saying, 'I don't know.' They try to look smart. If I don't know something, I'm comfortable with saying I don't know. That way, they'll believe me more when I say I do know something.''

His straight-shooting even extends to placing the blame when it comes to pre-attack American apathy over international events: Prior to Sept. 11, he noted, ``We were very concerned whether viewers cared enough about foreign coverage, but did we explain to viewers why they need to care? Viewers will be engaged when they understand the reason they need to be engaged.''

Debate over bureaus

Now that viewers understand, that still hasn't convinced the networks to put more money into overseas coverage after the war in Afghanistan comes to a conclusion. CNN is unique in that it is in the process of opening new bureaus in Lagos, Nigeria and Dubai in the Arab Emirates. Turner Broadcasting CEO Jamie Kellner explained, ``We think there will be an ongoing conflict in those areas and we want to be there.''

NBC News president Neal Shapiro, though, said local overseas bureaus aren't necessary. ``We used to have bureaus because it took forever to get video, so you better have a crew there,'' he said. ``Now, there are agencies everywhere, and there's almost nowhere you can't get within a day.''

CBS' McGinnis agreed: ``The important thing is not how many people, how many bureaus you have and who lives where, but it's can you get to a breaking story quickly, (with new technology) can you get the video, can you get the story back home.''

But CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour, speaking on Wednesday via satellite from Mogadishu, Somalia, where some locals fear the United States next will direct its war on terrorism, rebutted that point: ``Some news organizations are content to take agencies' video, but that's not a substitute for having your own reporters on the ground for important stories. There's no substitute for the credibility and trust a news organization can expect from their correspondents.''

CNN correspondent Eason Jordan, speaking via satellite from Baghdad, added, ``If something were to happen here, it would take them a long time to get in. You can't just go in after the fact.''

But even reporters who know the area can face problems filing stories, Jordan noted: ``It's a humongous challenge. There are severe restrictions on the media. I've seen things I can't show you - and this is not unique to Iraq - but because leaders in the Middle East see no upside to allowing the Western news media to do stories that would reflect badly on them.''

That cuts both ways, added Amanpour, who noted the U.S. government has been less than helpful in getting information to the public. ``The level of secrecy diminishes us,'' she said. ``The lack of access to troops deprives American audiences, deprives history. It's a troubling trend that started in the Gulf War. The Northern Alliance gave us the most access.''

CBS' Hayward agreed. ``It's far worse than Vietnam, where there was a lot of access,'' he said. ``It's been going in the wrong direction, from our perspective. But there may be this extraordinary irony - by restricting the coverage, the military may have forced more reporters to go unfettered into Afghanistan than you would have had (if) there been an attempt to bring correspondents into the fold.''

McGinnis added, ``The number of journalists that have been killed is astronomical, but we got a better story because they did try to stop us, which is kind of bizarre. It's much more dangerous, but thank God there are people out there willing to do it.''

ABC's Miller - the rare American journalist who has interviewed Osama bin Laden, in 1998 - said that his instincts tell him that the mastermind behind the terrorist attacks may be dead. He explained, ``You had that height of activity in Tora Bora, heavy bombing, bin Laden's voice on the radio telling his troops to 'Fight, fight, fight,' a real pocket of resistance where the United States had encountered little serious resistance in other places. And then it all kind of went quiet. So I would not be surprised if he was killed somewhere in that battle, even though they're getting intelligence that he's hidden elsewhere. (Though) nobody knows anything, I think he's gone.''

If that's the case, will the public lose interest in international affairs? Heyward said, ``I think it's too early to say whether the popular taste will gravitate back toward some of the trivial things that seemed to dominate the discussion when important things weren't happening. I would like to think that this will reorient people's tastes toward some of the weightier issues.''

On the other hand, Jim Murphy, executive producer of ``The CBS Evening News,'' fears that the current wave of patriotism in the country may hurt journalists covering important domestic stories. ``The Enron story is going to lead to a lot of political stories that could be messy and bothersome to people during a war. It's difficult because so many people just keep (saying), 'Don't bother me with that stuff, just be on the president's side.' ''

But it's not a matter of choosing sides, CNN CEO Walter Isaacson noted. ``We have to be objective,'' he said. ``We tell the truth when covering (civilian casualties in Afghanistan) but keep it in balance - Aaron frequently shows us ground zero (in New York). Our commitment is to the truth. Put it in context and people will get it.''

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CNN's Aaron Brown: ``I try to talk to viewers, not at them or over them.''