FIRING LINE: WAS IT CENSORSHIP IN GRENADA? (TV)
Summary
One in this talk/interview series hosted by William F. Buckley, Jr. In this episode, Buckley's guests are Anthony Lewis, a New York Times international affairs correspondent, and Richard Clurman, who worked as Time magazine's chief correspondent before becoming both the commissioner of parks and public affairs in New York City and an investigator of the responsibility of the press. The moderator for this program is Robert L. Lekachman. Buckley opens the discussion by asking Lewis if he believes that President Ronald Reagan was hiding something since he didn't allow the press to cover the invasion of Grenada. Before responding, Lewis makes it clear that he shares Buckley's distaste for the notion that the press is all-important. Buckley then decides to slightly alter his question and asks Lewis to speculate on the Pentagon's motives for disallowing the media to be involved in Grenada. Lewis states his belief that the military was simply afraid the mission would fail, especially after the military's accidental bombing of a mental hospital during a different secret mission. Clurman notes that the Pentagon cannot credibly claim that the press was excluded because the mission was a secret one since the press was even present for D-Day. Buckley then asks if most writers agree that there is some sort of conspiracy behind the invasion of Grenada, and Lewis answers in the affirmative. Furthermore, Lewis claims that many writers distrust Reagan for what they view as his unprecedentedly secretive methods of conducting government business. Clurman then discusses the importance of sovereign citizens remaining the definitive voice on American foreign policy. Buckley and Lewis then debate whether the invasion was justified. Buckley claims that such action was justified since Grenada "had become an arms depot for Russia." Lewis compares the invasion to Lyndon Johnson's attack on the Dominican Republic in 1965, and then Buckley and Lewis discuss the differences between the Grenada invasion and the Cuban missile crisis. The program ends with moderator Robert L. Lekachman asking the journalists to guess which country will next be targeted by the United States military next.
(Network affiliation varies; this program was also syndicated from 1966 to 1971 and from 1975 to 1977.)
Cataloging of this program was made possible by Mr. and Mrs. Theodore R. Stanley.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 4, 1983
- RUNNING TIME: 0:57:46
- COLOR/B&W: Color.
- CATALOG ID: T:61879
- GENRE: Talk/Interviews
- SUBJECT HEADING: Freedom of the press; Grenada -- American Invasion, 1983
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1971-1999
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Warren Steibel … Producer, Director
- Paul Sweeney … Associate Producer
- George Kahookele … Direction (Misc.), Associate Director
- Dorothy McCartney … Researcher
- William F. Buckley, Jr. … Host
- Robert L. Lekachman … Moderator
- Richard Clurman … Guest
- Anthony Lewis … Guest
- Lyndon B. Johnson
- Ronald Reagan