Disclosure: ITV News reporter Jon Gilbert is a friend and former colleague.
Some of the YouTube comments on Jon’s piece regarding the journalism are below. Of 87 comments at time of posting, only four dealt with the reporting of Eldon Anderson‘s remarks:
…one question is, how many people that sounded intelligent and onhappy [sic] with the situation did ITV interview and then NOT show? 70-75% of the US pop is pretty pissed about the war & how it came about.
It looks like they went out of their way to find the nutjobs. That’s journalism for you.
What a disgrace to the British media for exploiting Mr. Hull’s death by creating reactionary pieces like this. That ignorant man spouting that nonsense about the UK is in no way representative of most American’s opinions of either the UK or this incident in 2003. It’s sad to see the British media is just as exploitative as the US media is.
The night before the same journalist interviewed another neighbour. Yes, she was another blind American ‘proud’ patriot who showed no remorse for the situation. But AT LEAST she didn’t unjustly criticise the British Forces or come up with some BS about us ‘sucking our thumbs in WWII’.
Local paper, the Idaho Statesman says:
On Friday, Anderson told the Statesman that there’s more to the story than what British TV viewers saw.
British reporters had been hounding Anderson and other neighbors of the A-10 pilot earlier this week. “I was upset with the British reporters. The way they were behaving, camped out up and down the street,” said Anderson, who called the police.
Anderson said he flies an American flag in front of his house each morning. He went out one morning this week, and British reporters had returned. When they approached him, Anderson said, he responded in the heat of the moment.
“We have been bombarded by the British press. I was pissed off,” Anderson said. “That’s what started this. I was so upset about (my neighbor). Here he spends four or five months over there flying and he gets this kind of crud. That’s not right.
“He’s a hero and a friend. I just don’t think we ought to treat our heroes like that.”
Anderson said he contacted the British news station to clarify his comments. He said his statement had been directed at British foreign policy and leaders, not members of the British military.
“My comments were not against the people themselves, it’s against the foreign policy of Europe today, of not really helping us in the war on terror,” Anderson said. “I have the same problem with our own government, but not our military. They are the greatest people I know, and I thank God we have them.”
“I offer no apology, just a clarification to my remarks that were not prepared.”
So media “hounding” was to blame? Hmmm. Interestingly, the “hounding” seems to have come from outraged ITV News viewers and YouTube posters who circulated a phone number and a number of fairly offensive comments about Mr Anderson.
Another local Idaho website under the headline Ignorant Boise man insults us all had this to say:
It didn’t help that the ITN reporter said that Boiseans seeeehe pilot as a hero, in a tone implying that we hold this pilot in some special regard because of the friendly-fire incident. Left out was the cultural interpretation that many, if not most Americans regard all members of the military as heroes just for serving. The reporter’s tabloid-style performance was in typical ITN fashion, according to a friend of mine in London.
Gilbert prefaced Anderson’s remarks with the line “…in a neighbourhood that regards his [Matty Hull’s] death as unfortunate, war as inevitable.”
No doubt about it, the words were Anderson’s, Gilbert provided a platform for them with no adornment. Some British viewers decided what they made of those words and reacted strongly. Is that irresponsible journalism? No. Is the reaction irresponsible or intemperate? That, of course, is for you to decide…
2 responses to “Jon Gilbert’s ‘friendly fire’ report”
1. Did John Gilbert simply interview the first moron he could find? Did he even bother to verify that Eldon Anderson was indeed a “close friend” of the American pilot, AND a Vietnam veteran? Eldon Anderson’s ignorance and insensitivity is hardly representative of America at large. ITV’s broadcast of this couch-moistener’s sensationalistic pablum is nothing less than a tabloidesque cheap shot at the American people and a shameful grab for ratings, adverts and website hits. With friends like ITV, America doesn’t need terrorists. Thanks for the boost in international relations, Mr. Gilbert.
2. As for Eldon Anderson himself, if he would get his head out of his posterior long enough to read a history book, he would know that Great Britain held off the Nazis pretty much single-handedly for the first part of World War II (as per usual the French of course were of little use save for the making of surrender flags). Great Britain has given us so much help, and America considers the country a valuable friend and ally. Mr. Anderson is a disgrace to our country, and if he indeed is a Vietnam veteran, it’s no wonder those guys lost.
I love America and Great Britain as well. It was personally hurtful to me to see Eldon Anderson’s stupidity broadcast without hesitation and without even one other person’s point of view to counterbalance that man’s lunacy. I challenge every journalist at ITV who isn’t just interested in sensationalism to show the majority of America as it truly is—not just what John Gilbert wants the British people and the world at large to see.
Tamara Winfrey Bennett
Tamara thanks for your comments – We would probably both agree that Mr Anderson’s views are his own. I certainly didn’t take them as representative, and Jon didn’t portray them as representative. I’m not Jon’s advocate or apologist, but I think the problem is with the reaction to Mr Anderson, not the expression of his views. Thanks for your contribution. AM