[Media-watch] Peter Allen going native

[William Dinan]

Copy of letter to R5 Drive programme earlier this week. No reply yet though
Allen's reporting yesterday was better, specifically talking about the
terrible impact of bombing on Baghdad market

W

> I am writing to complain about aspects of Peter Allens reporting from an
> airbase somewhere in Kuwait on Monday evening. Peter reported at 5.20 that
> two Scuds had been fired from Iraq at Kuwait and that these had been
> destroyed by Patriot missiles. Can I ask how Peter knew for a fact that
> these missiles were actually Scuds? As an experienced journalist Peter
> will of course appreciate the propaganda value of terming unidentified
> missiles as Scuds. 
> 
> Secondly, on a point of tone rather than fact, I was disturbed to hear
> Peter describing the number of coalition aircraft taking off on bombing
> missions to Iraq as an amazing sight. Has Peter gone native after spending
> some time with forces in the Gulf recently? I felt it was highly
> inappropriate to glorify, and indeed sanitise, what these bombers were
> actually doing,especially as the BBC has taken a deliberate - and I think
> very damaging decision - not to screen images of the impact of these bombs
> and bullets.
> 
Will Dinan