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Tom Brokaw decided it was high time he let everyone know that he did apologize to Richard Jewell.
re richard jewell. 24 hours after the bombing i talked at length with a sr fbi official – who did not wave me off jewel as a suspect.
i reported that and speculated why. but my last line was for now he’s just a person of interest.
when the truth emerged i apologized.— Tom Brokaw (@tombrokaw) December 25, 2019
Here’s the problem with this. There’s no proof that Brokaw apologized. Not only that, but Brokaw’s reporting about Richard Jewell wasn’t just a single line item. No indeed.
“After it was first reported that Jewell was a suspect in the Atlanta bombing, Brokaw went on national television and said: “The speculation is that the FBI is close to ‘making the case’ in their language.”
“They probably have enough to arrest him right now, probably enough to prosecute him,” he added. “But you always want to have enough to convict him as well. There are still some holes in this case.”
Brokaw said in subsequent broadcasts that Jewell was “on the shortlist of suspects,” and that the security guard was “still the central focus.” The NBC anchor said he confirmed the details with “very high-ranking federal law enforcement officials in Washington and in Atlanta.””
This from Vanity Fair in 1997.
“The search warrant was short and succinct, dated August 3, 9:41 A.M. F.B.I. special agent Diader Rosario was instructed to produce “hair samples (twenty-five pulled and twenty-five combed hairs from the head)” of Richard Allensworth Jewell.”
Except that the FBI didn’t show up until three that afternoon. That is just one of the many indignities that Richard Jewell and his mother Bobi had to endure for 88 long days. They had to change their phone number because someone published it on the internet. The media was constantly in their faces. And the FBI? They went after Richard Jewell to the exclusion of all else.
If Tom Brokaw had apologized to Richard Jewell, you’d think it would’ve been reported in that Vanity Fair article written months later. There’s no mention of an apology.
The stories published as fact, including the very first one published by the Atlantic Journal Constitution, named Richard Jewell as the lone suspect in the case.
Does that remind you of anything?
Those are just two of the many stories that the news media has aired as fact in 2019 when instead they were fake news.
This 60 Minutes interview in light of what we now know is quite enlightening.
After a great deal of searching, this is the only video I could find of Richard Jewell testifying about his ordeal in front of Congress. He asks “Why?” The media, Tom Brokaw included, and the FBI never answered.
As shown in the movie, Jewell receives a letter from the FBI clearing him. However, it wasn’t sent to Richard Jewell, it was sent to his attorneys. It wasn’t even addressed to Richard! Lovely.
Richard and his attorneys gave a press conference (which is not in the movie) to announce that his name was cleared.
“”Showtime! Showtime!” the cameramen yelled when Jewell, his mother, and all the lawyers took the stage.
“I hope and pray that no one else is ever subjected to the pain and the ordeal that I have gone through,” Jewell said, his voice breaking. “The authorities should keep in mind the rights of the citizens. I thank God it is ended and that you now know what I have known all along: I am an innocent man.””
I saw Richard Jewell last week. It’s a movie that puts a spotlight on the media and FBI losing all objectivity in favor of ratings, and ignoring evidence in favor of narrative. As Richard himself noted in the 60 Minutes interview above, everything reported about him was all a lie. “Whatever will sell or keep the story in the news…”
A follow up interview in 2002 with 60 Minutes shows that no one ever apologized. NO ONE. In fact, news coverage from other media outlets at the end of 1996 show that NBC and Brokaw went out of their way to NOT apologize! Yes, that means Tom Brokaw is lying …again.
nbc made a substantial $ payment to the family without going through contentious negotiaton.
richard and his mother went through a painful time which i deeply regret. i hope we all learned a lesson, includjng the FBI which was my principal source— Tom Brokaw (@tombrokaw) December 25, 2019
Oh I see, this is the lesson Tom is attempting to teach.
What happened to Richard Jewell was bad. It’s the FBI’s fault I ran with the wrong information. I just reported what I was told, the sources were wrong. We gave Richard Jewell money, so it’s all good!
https://t.co/zWPPkFtaAH pic.twitter.com/DJCp3VP59c
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) December 26, 2019
There is not one iota of an apology in that statement by NBC. Again, if Tom had apologized on air or in person, Jewell’s attorneys would’ve made sure the public knew about it.
Richard Jewell was scapegoated by the FBI and the media. All for the story, the accolades and promotions.
Tom Brokaw can sit on his apology and spin.
Feature Photo Credit: Chad J. McNeeley, U.S. Navy [Public domain] via Wikimedia Commons, cropped and modified
Doc America says: The feeding frenzy in Atlanta among left wingers AND right wingers at the time affected more than Jewell and his mother. The bomber also hit a gay bar and an abortion mill. Cops who would have normally been on the side of law and order and the rights of the accused were triggered to look at any group of people whom the ACLU considered to be domestic terrorist groups. That included Pro Life groups and individuals within those groups. I got a credible death threat from an off-duty ATL cop working security at an abort mill.
I moved out of ATL and back to my home state, Wisconsin, until the real bomber, Rudolph, was captured. Jewell and his mother didn’t have the freedom to move. Their faces were known everywhere.I can only imagine the pressure they were under.
Thank God Clint Eastwood has put the Black Spot where it belongs, on the rush-to-judgment press and the out-of-control spy agencies who work for politicians and spy on American citizens without proper warrant.
Seeing “Richard Jewell” was very cathartic for me, as I can imagine it was for many others who were targeted and are still being targeted by the FBI. I only wish that Richard Jewell were alive today to see his name cleared by a Hollywood legend. Clint Eastwood is a real man’s man and deserves great credit for doing the fight thing for Jewell, his mother and our country.
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