NBC DELAYED COVERAGE FOR 8 DAYS!

Submitted by Lance (United States), Nov 8, 2005 at 11:15

-----Original Message-----
From: Lance
Sent: Friday, November 04, 2005 6:38 PM
To: +NBC News Nightly Viewer Mail
Subject: Paris riots

Hi,

I was wondering why you haven't covered the rioting by Muslim youths in Paris?

Lance

From: Allenbaugh, Laura (NBC Universal) [mailto:Laura.Allenbaugh@nbcuni.com]
Sent: Monday, November 07, 2005 2:03 PM
To:
Subject: FW: Paris riots

Mr. Ferm,

We have actually done several stories on the Paris riots. Our coverage was preempted over the weekend in much of the country so I included 2 transcripts from the weekend as well as a story from Friday and a mention of the story on Thursday. The story will definitely be appearing in tonight's broadcast as well.

Thank you for watching.

Laura Allenbaugh

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams



AMY ROBACH, anchor: (Sunday, November 7, 2005)
It is early Monday morning in France and the crisis gripping the nation
shows no sign of letting up. Eleven nights of arson, looting and now
gunfire have led to hundreds of arrests and a vow from the government to
crack down on the rioters. NBC's Don Teague is in Paris tonight.
DON TEAGUE reporting:
After more than a week of violence in suburbs surrounding Paris,
arsonists attacked the city center overnight, setting fire to more than
two dozen cars, including these near historic Republic Square.
Nationwide, several schools, businesses and some 1,300 cars burned last
night alone. And tonight at least 10 police officers were injured when
rioters opened fire in a Paris suburb as the violence enters its 11th
night.

Unidentified Man #1: (Through Translator) We're in war. We need to send
the army. There's no other solution.

TEAGUE: In response, the French prime minister called an emergency
cabinet meeting this afternoon, and President Jacques Chirac addressed
the nation for the first time since riots began.
President JACQUES CHIRAC (France): (French spoken)

TEAGUE: He pledged to restore order and to back his police forces, which
have battled roving gangs of arsonists in more than a dozen cities.
Unidentified Woman #1: (Through Translator) It becomes really disturbing
if it spreads here. It becomes really worrying for the future. We don't
know which way it will go. If it starts to spill over from the suburbs,
it will become really dangerous for us.

TEAGUE: Police did arrest about 350 suspected rioters last night, many
of them youths, and discovered what they called a factory for making
gasoline bombs with over 150 explosives. By nightfall tonight, beefed-up
security was evident in central Paris where residents and business owners
worry more attacks will drive away tourists.

Unidentified Man #2: I think it will be a bad, bad, bad thing. If they
come in Paris, sure people will be--they will stay at home.

TEAGUE: Many tourists admit they're concerned now that the violence has
spread into the heart of Paris, but they're still here. Tonight the
sidewalks along the Champs Elysees are as crowded as ever. Among the
tourists, countless Americans, many with growing alarm, but staying.
Unidentified Woman #2: Now that it's in the city, we probably need to
take some extra precautions.

Unidentified Woman #3: If there's an area that's affected, I'm probably
not gonna go there.

TEAGUE: Tonight violence is again spreading across France as a nation
struggles for answers and control. Don Teague, NBC News, Paris.

=============================================================

JOHN SEIGENTHALER, anchor: (Saturday, November 5, 2005)
In France tonight a 10th night of violence in what is rapidly becoming a
national crisis, as young protestors, angry at the treatment of
immigrants in that country, expand their attacks beyond the suburbs of
Paris. NBC's Don Teague is there with the latest.

DON TEAGUE reporting:
Despite pleas for calm and promises by government officials, gangs of
French youths set fires in four Paris suburbs and at least a dozen cities
last night. Across France more than 900 vehicles were burned, plus
warehouses and a nursery school. Police arrested more than 250 people,
as authorities crack down on the rioters who they suspect are being
spurred on by Islamic militants and drug dealers.

Mr. MARC GAUTRON (French Police Official): (Through Translator) These
riots are designed to prevent police from getting into these areas and
putting an end to drug trafficking, which is very lucrative.

TEAGUE: Morning brought vigils by parents, most North African
immigrants, begging the disaffected youngsters to stop the violence. It
also brought Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin to the table for
meetings with suburban youths and Muslim officials, this as the US
embassy warned Americans to stay out of riot-effected suburbs.
So far the violence hasn't spread into the heart of Paris, but in a way
this city is part of the problem because many French citizens of African
decent say here in Paris they're simply not welcome.

Mr. RASHID BENTELEB: It's a long story. It's not just today or last
week.

TEAGUE: For Rashid Benteleb, the son of immigrants from Morocco, it's a
lifetime. He lives in a poor suburban project not because he can't
afford the city, but, he says, because Paris landlords won't rent to him.
Mr. BENTELEB: It's about a system that you are first class, second
class. The first class is the city.

TEAGUE: A city traditionally known as a melting pot for immigrants, but
journalist Achmed Alkai says one that prefers to keep those from Africa
at arms length.

Ms. ACHMED ALKAI: These people live in--in--in cities--in small cities
where there is no hope, there is no future, no cultural life, no sports
life, nothing.

TEAGUE: For now, nothing but turmoil and violent demands for change.

Don Teague, NBC News, Paris.

=============================================================

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: (Friday, November 4, 2005)

Also overseas tonight, just outside Paris for the ninth day in a row,
angry protesters, many of them immigrants to that country, have been
taking to the streets to vent their rage and frustration at their living
conditions and the government there. NBC's Don Teague is in Paris
tonight.

DON TEAGUE reporting:

For more than a week, the Paris suburbs have been a burning, seething
firestorm. The violence touched off nine days ago when two teen-age boys
running from police were electrocuted while hiding in a power station.
That night, the suburbs exploded, immigrant youths torching cars and
throwing rocks at riot police. Now, the violence has escalated. Two
schools, a shopping center and a factory have been set on fire along with
600 cars.

Many of the rioters like the two dead teen-agers are children of North
African immigrants. Most are Muslim. Ethnic and religious
discrimination has been a growing problem in France. Many here feel the
government has abandoned them.

Unidentified Man: They don't do anything about us. That's the only way
they can hear about us by, you know, burning cars and, you know, fighting
the--the cops.

TEAGUE: Life in the immigrant housing projects is bleak. Thirty percent
of the young men here are unemployed. France's hard-line interior
minister deepened tensions when he called the rioters scum. President
Chirac is calling for calm, but the ethnic and religious turmoil in
France has all of Europe nervous.

Mr. JONATHAN FENBY (Political Analyst): Well, European countries in
general are worried about second generation immigrants. They don't feel
part of society, and European governments, frankly, have not done a very
good job at integrating them into their own societies.

TEAGUE: Here in France, the problem is immediate. Trying to stop the
flames of unrest from spreading. Don Teague, NBC News, Paris.
====================================================

BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor: (Thursday, November 3, 2005)
For the eighth day in a row, there are riots in poor neighborhoods around
Paris, and the violence is spreading now to more French towns. The
rioters are mostly young people protesting slum housing in immigrant
neighborhoods and the lack of jobs there.

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