Neverland Chronicle (Feb 15)

 by: Gary Whittaker

Is Bashir the Man in the Mirror?

It seems that the weekly so-called news magazine 20/20 is now grooming Martin Bashir to be the next Barbara Walters. How is that relevant? Well, the Disney owned ABC has lured Mr. Bashir from the BBC with both 1 million dollar salary, and an agenda to go after Michael Jackson. Mr. Bashir has started his hard-hitting investigative journalism by interviewing Corey Feldman about his upcoming testimony in the Jackson Trial. If I was on the Jackson defense team, I would have been very concerned over the damaging affect this would have against my client right before the trial of his life. But that would have been BEFORE the interview. AFTER the interview, I would be salivating at the chance to cross-examine Corey. Martin Bashir seems to have an innate talent to make everyone around him look bad...including himself. His employers must be blinded to this fact, if only because they are too busy thinking about the ratings boost that will be coming in the next few weeks as Martin continues to come up with "sexy" headlines. But when allegations of his misconduct and questionable tactics start turning the public trust against him, executives at ABC will have no one to blame but themselves.

I did a quick Google of Martin Bashir and came up with 2 interesting facts. The first of which, was his then employers less than supportive remarks after his first breakthrough interview with Michael Jackson. The second, and most troubling, was his blatant lie in order to meet with the father of a missing 16-year-old chess master. He told the father that had information as to the whereabouts of his missing daughter, but would only give him the information if he could be interviewed. Let me ask you, is that the kind of reporter you want to put your faith into? As for Corey Feldman, his story is an obvious attempt to get back at a man who he idolized in his youth, but was left aside when Michael Jackson felt that he was about to be betrayed. Here are some of the details:

• Corey alleges that Michael Jackson asked if Corey during a phone conversation, if he had any nude magazines, like Playboy, over at his house. According to Corey, Michael would only sleep over at Corey's house if he had those kinds of "books".

• Corey also states that while on their way to Disney, they stopped by Jackson's hotel where Corey saw a book of STD's. Michael sat down with Corey and explained to him what they were all about. The book contained graphic pictures.

• Martin Bashir himself states that Corey has nothing to gain by speaking out now. Apparently, this kind of publicity would only hurt his new album that will be released, and his new Broadway show that will open in a few months.

Martin Bashir is no Barbara Walters, although he is a symbol for what you can expect from modern-day news magazines. Credibility has been replaced by shockability. Ratings drive the markets, and news shows are no longer the exception.