Archive for September, 2007
Blogs Give Voice to an Audience
When WAMU, the local NPR radio station in Washington, D.C., abruptly dropped four (4) NPR national newscasts on the half-hour during NPR’s Morning Edition each weekday morning in favor of its own amateurish attempts at local news, I was among a number of people who objected. Some friends and I talked it over, and within [...]
Who Wasn’t Employing Debat?
Alexis Debat, who sold his apparently phony expertise as a “Homeland Security” and “terrorism expert” to ABC News, the Nixon Center and George Washington University, apparently was also getting money from the Pentagon through a defense contractor. This fact and even more on this unbelievable story of the guy who conned an astonishingly gullible Washington [...]
Winner: Convoluted Press Release of the Month
Breaking nearly every rule for clarity of message and effective communications, America Online (AOL) has issued a convoluted news release that mixes together two jargon-engorged technology announcements (which make no sense) with … oh, by the way, gee whiz, we almost forgot … news that the company is moving corporate headquarters to New York from [...]
Where is the French “Expert?”
Alexis Debat — now described by Wired as “The French Defense ‘Expert’ Who Snookered Washington” — apparently is maintaining a low profile. I would not be at all surprised to hear that he’s got a movie/book deal. This thing reminds me of “Catch Me If You Can” with Tom Hanks. Really, when you think about [...]
Everyone’s Got a Price
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has sharp criticism of the Bush administration’s massive federal spending and concern about the subprime mortgage meltdown but … he’s kept quiet until now. Why? Well, Greenspan clearly saved his criticism for a new book he is hyping in a major media blitz. Heck, the guy didn’t want to hurt [...]
Powell: “Who is this Guy?”
Former Secretary of State, General Colin Powell, is one of the latest figures to question a fraudulent interview with former ABC News reporter and consultant Alexis Debat. Howard Kurtz in Monday’s Washington Post quotes Powell as saying, “I didn’t realize the guy had created a whole industry of false interviews.”
World Media Focuses on Debat Story
It is interesting to see the increasing number of news organizations that are reporting the unfolding story about Alexis Debat and whether he conned Washington and the media. Just do a Google News search. Debat was an ABC News reporter and consultant on issues of terrorism for more than four years even though he lacked [...]
Debat’s Story in His Words
I contacted Alexis Debat via email regarding the serious allegations about his professional work. I also told Debat that I would post any reply from him verbatim on this blog. Debat has taken me up on my offer, and his statement, which I received by email, is below. Much of it has already appeared in [...]
ABC News Circles the Wagons
ABC News has removed all references to its apparent phony “terrorism expert” reporter, Alexis Debat, and the network is silent … not talking about this serious blackeye to its credibility. Incidentally, Debat’s resume is online. The list of questions about Debat is growing – – What was going through his mind by reporting about so [...]
Neocon Link to ABC Scandal
Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News has broken a new development in the story about former ABC News reporter and consultant Alexis Debat. And, we have this story, written by a legitimate expert, Laura Rozen, asking the critical question of when did ABC News realize Debat wasn’t who he claimed to be. This scandal [...]
