NPR: Tenet's Media Rampage: What Would You Do?

Tenet's Media Rampage: What Would You Do?

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Former CIA Director George Tenet's new book "At the Center of the Storm" details his involvment with the White House after 9/11 and in the run up to the Iraq War.

Credit: Chris Hondros/Getty Images

For the past 36 hours former CIA Director George Tenet has temporarily replaced Howard Stern as "The King of All Media."

I typed Tenet's name into Google News and as of 7:15 a.m., 2,241 articles have been written about Tenet and his new book, "At the Center of the Storm".

The headlines range from "Deconstructing George Tenet" to "Tenet Seems to Have Grown A Conscience."

As I watched the coverage of Mr. Tenet's promo tour, from the combative 60 Minutes interview to a quieter version on the Today show, I found I wanted more. I wanted to know about Tenet the man, the culture of CIA and, quite simply, about the book .

So how would The BPP have covered this story?

Should we have strung together the media clips of the story knowing he gave everyone the same answer? A faux-interview?

Talked to a writer or person-in-the-know about Tenet "the man"?

Or should we have read passages from his book and then got analysis from someone who has studied the CIA?

This last one would be my vote: I want to know more than just the two major points media reports have focused on: Slam dunk & bad intel on Iraq. On all the stations yesterday people kept referencing the book but I wondered, did anyone read it?

Or, if we were on the air right now, would you want us to get on Mr. Tenet's dance card and interview him ourselves?

More importantly, what would you like to have seen in the Tenet coverage?

Alison Stewart

10:05 AM ET | 05- 1-2007 | permalink

Comments (Send a comment)

Kind of goes with the 'read the book' bit, but Tenet was the chief spook for a long time. I'd go on a mission to find out what else Tenet did during his tenure, and how the analysis he promulgated had an effect on American policy.

Iraq's very important, but was this a one-time case...or was this 'slam-dunk' stuff endemic to his career?

Sent by Drew | 11:09 AM ET | 05-01-2007

Hello, BPP.

I think the key to covering this story is not to 'cover the story'. The majority of the media reports that I've seen simply echo one or two assertions of Mr. Tenet's book, and then allow a liberal and conservative commentator to yell at each other for a couple of minutes. Or a reporter interviews another reporter about Mr. Tenet's book.

In a recent interview, Bill Moyers said that reporters have an obligation to show people objective truth. In that light, what I'd like to know is, what light does Mr. Tenet's book shed on the workings of the Bush administration in the era of the Second Iraq War, and what assertions does he make that need to be challenged in order to understand the underlying truth of the situation?

I'm not exactly sure what that means in terms of something one can do on a radio show. Sorry to not have a more constructive answer.

Sent by Andrew | 11:11 AM ET | 05-01-2007

I vote for the last technique.

Sent by Steve Petersen | 12:31 PM ET | 05-01-2007

As we get closer to launching the show, I think we're going to actually try to test out several treatments of one story and then find out what you guys think. Or, do the opposite -- get your ideas on how we should do a story and then try it out your way. (Kinda like Burger King.)

That said, the one angle I would shy away from for the Tenet story is the last one. Interviewing Tenet -- while being a good "get" -- doesn't seem like it would yield anything new. He's said everything he has to say. We'd probably get the same stuff as everyone else. And what's the point of that? What do you all think?

Sent by Matt Martinez | 1:35 PM ET | 05-01-2007

I want to know when Tenet realized he was going to be the fall-guy. Was there a moment when his spine tingled, his skin goose-bumped, and a sick feeling hit the pit of his stomach? If so, how did Tenet personally cope with that? Why did he stay quiet for so long?

Sent by Sandy | 2:32 PM ET | 05-01-2007

You know you should talk to his secretary and not becuase I'm a secretary (Admin. Asst.- whatever), but normally people who work around him will have a totally different perspective on this guy ...not that I do about any of my co-workers, but...if this guy has a book he's probably full of himself...I mean geez look at the cover! Otherwise skip him altogether, the last thing we need is to advertise for his book and if you do...at least get a pledge out of the guy.

Sent by Dab | 4:18 PM ET | 05-01-2007

How about get other authors of similar tell-all books? Has time and the public's reaction to their books changed their perspective of the events that they've written about? Based upon these other accounts, could we expect Tenet to change his tune in a few years?

FYI: I backed your statement -- "This last one would be my vote" -- with my comment. I apologize if that was unclear.

Sent by Steve Petersen | 8:08 PM ET | 05-01-2007

Although Tenent supposedly headed the CIA during the "two largest intelligence failures" in recent memory, all the reports I have heard mention that he is quite popular among the CIA staff. I'm interested in that. What does it take to be a director of the CIA? How do you manage and organization like that? What sort of management issues did he tackle, why are they popular and what do those changes mean for the future of the CIA?

This may be a pretty tough angle, though. It involves reporting on the internal workings of the CIA. There may be topics about the office life (401k plans, meeting snacks) that may be boring enough for people to discuss, but that's not guaranteed. Maybe you can tap Seymour Hersh for backup. ;-)

Sent by onny | 12:16 PM ET | 05-07-2007

NPR's coverage of George Tenet's book release surprised me. I heard exactly the same as what most other news sources offered, enough revelation about the book to spur interest without spilling too many beans so as to detract from sales.

Ric Gillepsie, author of a recent Amelia Earhart history, spoke at the New York City headquarters of the Explorers Club last night. He reported that a major factor in scheduling the likes of the first woman's flying around the globe was to get her home in time to write a book in time to get it on the shelves in time for the Christmas sales.

If BPP were to cover Tenet's book, it would be interesting to hear more about the timing of the book release. John McLaughlin benignly describes Tenet's waiting three years to gain "historical perspective." Fair enough. Tenet could have been waiting until he had "distance" or until those HarperCollins seven digits matched his liking. (In a world without book deals, would Tenet have cared enough about "trust" and "personal honor" to write this book in the first place?) Or there are many more factors at play, and the BPP audience wants to know. Perhaps, for example, it couldn't be all coincidence that Tenet's slamming indictment of the Bush administration comes out just as some states scramble to move up their primaries for the next presidential election

Tenet's publicist, Tina Andreadis, or his negotiator in the deal, David Kendall, might not agree to talk to BPP on the subject, but it would be worth a shot. As Steve Petersen proposed, BPP could tap into former tell-all resources. Maybe enough time has passed that, say, Richard Clarke would talk to BPP more candidly about the politics of release dates. HarperCollins and fellow large publishers might feel uncomfortable revealing any marionette-rigged scheduling, but smaller publishers, who could offer equally informed insight into the industry, might be giddy to talk to BPP/NPR.

This member of the BPP generation is thirsty for metanews, but let's have BPP cover a different story about the story about the story.

Sent by Helen Ivor-Smith | 9:23 PM ET | 05-08-2007

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