Assad’s Race to Western Media

What’s it worth to score an exclusive interview with a ruthless dictator who maybe ordered a chemical-weapons attack on his own citizens? Syria’s media handlers were hoping that it would be worth the while of American broadcasters, even courting ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos with a trip to Beirut to interview Bashar al-Assad. But even though Stephanopoulos traveled 11,000 miles, the interview was called off (although to Stephanopoulos’s credit, he at least scored an exclusive interview with President Obama on Sunday). Assad instead went with Charlie Rose, an interview arranged by former Al Jazeera anchor Luna Chebel, now an Assad adviser. Assad’s other influential media adviser is Bouthaina Shaaban, a Western-educated interpreter and author.