Live From Baghdad

Live From Baghdad
By John Flemming

HBO’s film, “Live From Baghdad”, offers a seat-gripping and reflective dramatization of CNN’s explosion into the global scene and their emergence as a journalistic juggernaut. The movie depicts the true story of a news crew, lead by CNN producers Robert Wiener (Michael Keaton) and Ingrid Formanek (Helena Bonham Carter), as they struggle to obtain the “story of a lifetime” during the events leading up to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. That story, of course, is to be the first news network to broadcast live, around-the-clock coverage of the inevitable U.S. military intervention in the crisis.
Wiener and company (Robert Wisdom as Bernard Shaw, Bruce McGill as Peter Arnett, and John Carroll Lynch as John Holliman, to name a few) are unrelenting in securing not only critical equipment needed to broadcast live but also critical relationships with Iraqi authorities. By positioning themselves favorably with important officials such as the Iraqi prime minister of information, Naji al-Hadithi (David Suchet), the crew circumvents multiple efforts to be censored by the Iraqi government and is also granted substantial access.
Much credit is due to the cast of this movie for a very convincing performance, especially Keaton who proves he still has it in him. Each actor is able to use their strengths to make their characters part of a dynamic on-screen chemistry. The cinematography is excellent, using a very effective blend of real footage from the news coverage of the war that serves to give the movie a feel of unfolding in present time.
The film uses Wiener’s persistence and personal motivation to get his once-in-a-lifetime story to push questions of journalistic ethics: just how far should one go to get the story? Is it acceptable to publish a story that may endanger individuals? Is it possible to balance loyalty to your avenues of access with your loyalty to the public?
The relevancy of these questions today is unquestionable in the midst of another military conflict in the Middle East. Starting with the tank blitzkrieg to Baghdad in 2003, the concept of the embedded journalist has revived controversial debates on the role and ethical code of journalists during wartime.
People have argued that full coverage of military operations endangers our troops, while others claim that without the 24/7 watchful eyes of the media the military and government can go unchecked. Also, since these journalists essentially are absorbed into the military – not only going to the frontlines with soldiers but also relying on them to ensure their safety – some wonder whether their objectivity can remain intact.
The issues of integrity and transparency that the film raises are all the more important in the current age of sensationalist media, where it seems that networks like CNN itself, once pioneers of honest journalism, have abandoned their fundamental values in exchange for ratings and profits.