E-Mailbag: Should CBS Identify Islamic Terrorist Web Sites?

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: CBS News Issues

(AP Photo/U.S. Army)

We got an email from reader Scott L. asking the following:

Over the last three or more years I've seen numerous reports from abroad detailing messages from Islamic web sites about some event, but seldom - if ever - is the web address made public. All news outlets seem to do it. What is your policy on this? I have a couple of possible reasons floating around in my head but I was wondering if y'all had a specific reason. The story about the two booby-trapped soldiers today piqued my interest.

I assume the story he's referring to is this one, concerning the brutal murder of two men believed to be Pfc. Kristian Menchaca and Pfc. Thomas L. Tucker. The story notes that "[a]ccording to a web statement that has not been authenticated, the terror group Al Qaeda in Iraq is claiming it killed the U.S. soldiers. The statement also says the soldiers were 'slaughtered' by the new head of the group, successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed by a U.S. air strike on June 7th. "

The URL of the Web site is not mentioned in the story, which is credited to "CBS/AP." The story does include this information:

The claim of responsibility was made in the name of the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization of five insurgent groups led by al Qaeda in Iraq. The group posted an Internet statement Monday claiming it was holding the American soldiers captive.

"We give the good news... to the Islamic nation that we have carried God's verdict by slaughtering the two captured crusaders," said the claim, which appeared on an Islamic militant Web site where insurgent groups regularly post statements and videos.

"With God Almighty's blessing, Abu Hamza al-Muhajer carried out the verdict of the Islamic court" calling for the soldiers' slaying, the statement said.

For most people who read this story, knowing the address of the Islamic militant Web site would not be terribly helpful – unless, that is, they speak Arabic. But one could argue that since the message was posted on a Web site, the URL of the site is relevant and in fact integral to a full accounting of the story. On the other hand, this is a site frequented by insurgents – is it worth printing the URL if it means risking introducing the site to people who might want to do harm to Americans?

According to Linda Mason, CBS News senior vice president, standards and special projects, such sites are not identified on CBS News, at least on the television side. But it's not for the reasons discussed above. "TV is a one pass medium," she says. "To name a site you're not going to know is to lose the audience." In general, she says that CBS News is "neither seeking that people go to these sites nor preventing people from going."

Mike Sims, Director of News and Operations for CBSNews.com, says there is not a specific policy on the issue. "I think it's purely editorial," he says. "If it's relevant to the story, absolutely we'll run it." Would CBSNews.com link to a site containing video of a soldier being tortured? "We would not link to it," says Sims. "We might identify the site."