What happened to Ashleigh Banfield?

[MadisonProgressive]

Remember that rising MSNBC news 'star' that was all the talk at the start of the war? I watched "WMD - Weapons of Mass Deception" with my brother (maybe the best such documentary I've seen, by Danny Schechter - watch the trailer at http://www.wmdthefilm.com/mambo/index.php )

and there was a clip of her talking at a conference where she criticized the media coverage of the run-up to the war. The caption stated that she was 'dropped' by MSNBC. Has she ever been heard from again? No other network picked her up? Is this one of the political hits that convinced reporters to keep their mouths shut for fear of losing their careers?

Anyone have any info on her?

On Edit: Corrected spelling of her name - thanks tx_dem41 !

[GalleryGod]

1. And She Kicked-Ass on September 11th! Covered in Soot!

Good reporter...cute glasses..definite Rising Star and as you say,
Whoooooosh!:nuke: Gone!
Ghost...Vapor..Archives...In a cab!:wtf:

[tx_dem41]

2. I know she comes back to Dallas a lot on weekends..

she's a singer in a rock band. More a hobby thing, though. BTW, FWIW, its Ashleigh Banfield.

[zulchzulu]

3. She left and now is married and living in NYC

She got canned for speaking out against the coverage if the war:

Snip:

War's sobering realities never reached American TV screens during the recent U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, according to NBC News correspondent Ashleigh Banfield.

"We didn't see what happen when Marines fired M-16s," Banfield said during a Landon lecture appearance today at Kansas State University. "We didn't see what happened after mortars landed, only the puff of smoke. There were horrors that were completely left out of this war. So was this journalism? Or was this coverage?"

On the other hand, she said, many U.S. television viewers were treated to a non-stop flow of images presented by "cable news operators who wrap themselves in the American flag and go after a certain target demographic."

"It was a grand and glorious picture that had a lot of people watching," Banfield said, "and a lot of advertisers excited about cable TV news. But it wasn't journalism, because I'm not sure Americans are hesitant to do this again -- to fight another war, because it looked to them like a courageous and terrific endeavor."

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:CSqstCI4LigJ:www.cjonline.com/stories/042403/bre_landonlec.shtml+ashley+banfield&hl=en

This is odd, but she married my brother-in-law's brother where they met in SF. I kid you not. They got married in Canada (Calgary) last spring.

[grumpy old fart]

11. wouldn't your "brother in law's brother" be your brother in law also??

[zulchzulu]

19. Hmmm...no

I'm not related to my brother-in-law's brother...hence, no.

[w4rma]

24. You're not related to your brother-in-law, either.

hence the "in-law" part.

You said this guy was biologically related to your brother-in-law (as his brother. Therefore he's also your spouse's brother. Therefore he's also your brother-in-law.

The brother of your brother-in-law is another brother-in-law. :P

[zulchzulu]

28. OK..well if you need to really have it...

OK... Ashley is married to the great grandson of someone who once was called a robber baron in the 19th century. It is by mere fate that I have the sibling relation...am I related to my brother-in-law? I guess by the mere wording of the term "relation" and "in-law", there is some relation.

And no, I didn't give Ashley a wedding gift. I would now that I know why she left. I thought it was because she had become "too fat" or something...

[diplomats]

26. Not necessarily - for instance, my sister's husband is my

brother-in-law. HIS brother is not related to me in any way.

[applegrove]

4. US is allowed to use propaganda in the war arena. If that is what

Ashley was criticizing then she hurt the invasion. She is Canadian and it may have been glaring to her that it was propaganda. But it is like when you have a son who is a cocaine head & an alcoholic when you are vice-president... as long as George W. stayed out of a car while he was plastered everyone keeps quiet.

You do not speak up unless it is a danger to others. You do not speak against propaganda when it could be a danger to others (like your own soldiers). She didn't hold her breath. She may have never experienced a war before. Propaganda is a big part of it. You just are not supposed to use the propaganda against your own people unless you 'officially' declare war against them first.

Apparently propagand now includes not just stories but photos of coffins coming home.

[MadisonProgressive]

5. Do you have a link

to any comments she made that risked American soldiers lives? I don't remember that at all.

[applegrove]

7. She spoke about the propaganda. Talking about it weakens it

I guess. I actually have never gotten MSNBC and didn't pay any attention to her problems at the time. But anyone who criticized the war was quickly 'separated from the heard'.

I cannot remember where I read that propaganda is legal if it is used outside the USA. But I remember the babies in incubator story and the Saudis about to be invaded by Saddam story and believed them all in 1990 (or whenever) Then you become war weary the next time around and don't expect much of the truth.

[MadisonProgressive]

9. Propaganda is legal in the US too, apparently.

The administration lies every single day. They pay reporters and columnists to write their spin as fact. They lied to involve us in a meaningless war. The point I was trying to make is that news people are intimidated by the real possibility that their careers may be destroyed. They've seen several examples first hand.

[applegrove]

13. Exactly. They use coertion and 'mistakes' that reporters make

from time to time. And they make examples of them. A reporter who was Canadian & Gay was "outed" (as both gay & Canadian) after he interviewed some American soldiers in Iraq who were not happy and (I think) wrote about it for some USA publication.

[Old and In the Way]

14. "US is allowed to use propaganda in the war arena. "

Who allows this, the UN? Or is this in some rule book, only known to Bush?

"You do not speak up unless it is a danger to others." That sounds like one of the rules....can you give us a site to this rulebook?

"You do not speak against propaganda when it could be a danger to others (like your own soldiers)." You're not making this shit up, are you?

"You just are not supposed to use the propaganda against your own people unless you 'officially' declare war against them first." No, you couldn't make this shit up. You're not George Bush, are you? This sounds like his mangled attempt to justify his war crimes.

[applegrove]

27. By law the US government is allowed to use propaganda in times

of war... as part of War. Also, the same book said that US is not allowed to use propaganda against their own people inside the USA.

I cannot remember the book. Sorry! But I will look it up and hope to find either the origianl book or a link to the propaganda laws.

[MADem]

6. Silly girl!!!!!!!!!!!!

She actually wanted to do some REAL REPORTING, and cover the war from ALL SIDES!!!!!!!!

How DARE she???

She got shitcanned for trying to play it right down the middle. How very "unpatriotic" of her.

I thought she was fantastic. They lost a good one when they pushed her over the side.

[Disturbed]

8. Telling the truth

has ended many people's career. No need to wonder why the Lamestream Media spouts to Bush Junta party line and hides reality from Amerika.

[izzybeans]

10. She gave a speech at Kansas State? I think

Anyway it was very critical of war and its coverage. There should be a link on C-span somewhere I'll go check. But I believe it predates her being "disappeared". After that, no more Ashleigh.

on edit: couldn't find the video but here is a report from K-state's student newspaper it appears to be the same text as that provided by ZulchZulu above. Anyway it has a date to cross-reference with her last report for those interested. If I remember correctly she was pulled from the field (or more plainly, came back from the war theater) and put on the Scott Peterson trial before Dan Abrams turned it into his full time job (or "they" did to him).

http://www.kstatecollegian.com/stories/042503/new_banfield.shtml

[grumpy old fart]

12. and she was hot to boot!

[proud patriot]

15. I always liked her

She's very beautiful ..

[mattclearing]

23. Stoopid hot. n/t

[Borgnine]

25. Heh, yeah.

She's got a Tina Fey thing going on, which always strikes a chord with me.

[musette_sf]

16. Read her piece in "Into The Buzzsaw"

She goes into some detail about her dis-engagement from the MSM.

[Skittles]

17. she thought she could be a REAL jounalists

perceived bimbos are not paid to be REAL journalists

[coffeenap]

18. Maybe she could work for AAR--if they keep their act together...nt

[Rosco T.]

21. Hmmm... partner for Rachel on Unfilterd??? n/m

[Jacobin]

20. She got off the reservation and they had to can her

[Eric J in MN]

22. AAR should hire her as their first full-time foreign correspondent.

How do we contact AAR to tell them this?