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Feeling the Conflict

You know, there's just something about MSNBC War Bunny Ashleigh Banfield that I find vaguely disturbing. I guess when it comes to war coverage, I prefer my correspondents to be wearing beat-up and dusty vests, rather than $300 designer glasses. And the whole thing about Ashleigh changing her hair color, so as to match local custom? It just seemed fake. Give me Christiane Amanpour, a woman whose every cell screams "no nonsense," any day.

Also, and this may be just me, do you really trust any news "personality" who's younger than yourself? I think this rule applies no matter what your age is, which explains the continued viability and vitality of 60 Minutes. People are living longer than ever these days, and there must be plenty of them who won't believe something until Mike Wallace and Morley Safer say it's so.

Back to Miss Banfield: Her reward for almost getting killed in the WTC bombing (and capturing it, dramatically, on tape, of course!) was to be named the host of an hour-long show, a nightly war wrap-up from Afghanistan. Whenever I tune to this show on my DirecTivo, a channel and program i.d. banner pops up with the title: A Region In Conflict With Ashleigh Banfield. Actually, I can think of several regions that are in conflict with Ashleigh Banfield, starting with the region of my brain that says her mix of spunky personality and lack of gravitas are contributing to making this war seem a lot less serious than it actually is.

Transmitted: 10:09 AM PST 12/15/2001

People need to start giving her alot more respect she can deleiver the news better than any man ever could. Quit critizing her by her hair color and glasses and realize what a great reporter she is...She makes us understand the news the way it should be heard. so she has compassion so what alot of reporters do..

Posted by swordswomen @ 03/01/2002 06:36 PM PST

Ashleigh, stop posting here!!

:)

Posted by Colin @ 03/05/2002 02:30 PM PST

Ashleigh is a professional journalist who deserves every bit as much respect and courtesy that her male counterparts expect. I had the pleasure of knowing her when she lived here in Calgary, and even then her reporting was top notch. She's a well rounded individual and a great reporter (also sings incredibly well, used to sing in a band here that my boyfriend also played in; never said no to helping out during charity events) who happens to be young and beautiful... why should that go against her?!?

Posted by CMA @ 03/24/2002 02:10 AM PST

Ashleigh is Hot, Leave my war bunny alone! Praise Allah.

Posted by Abu Rasim Ibn Haziz @ 04/05/2002 01:28 AM PST

Did anyone actually WATCH the amazing documentary she did right after the fall of Kabul? Inside the "Kabul Hotel", around the Soccer Stadium, and some of the footage she had from the early days of the Afghanistan mission. It would have been fascinating even if a 55-year-old grizzled dude in a trenchcoat had done it, and Ashleigh deserves the full professional credit for that. THEN we can talk about what a ravishing beauty she is!

The news and events of the world dictate their own gravitasse. It's the networks that feel the need to add it to lighter or more trivial stories. I have no issue at all receiving heavy news from a stunning young woman, and if she changes her hair color on a weekly basis, she's still a fantastic journalist.

Posted by Ron @ 06/05/2002 10:47 AM PST

It's a paradox, alright -- female anchors owe much of their success to their looks (as do the guys), but those same looks seem to sabotage their credibility in many viewers' eyes, including you, Mr. C. I agree that Ashleigh has a flair for self-promotion and drama, which is regrettable, but I respect her as a pure reporter -- she delivers the goods. So yeah, I'm a little torn. But as a guy, I'll admit it: she firms me right up.

Posted by Steve @ 06/18/2002 10:05 PM PST

I can add a personal observation about Miss Ashleigh: She dated a buddy of mine in Calgary once. He dumped her because the only way she could "get off" was when she was being strangled. When she was a reporter in Calgary she used to show up on-air with these tight, colourful scarves around her neck - to hide the marks made by her lovers "strangling" her during "playtime". She's become one kinked-up War Bitch, from what I hear. She developed an interest in Leather Dykes in Dallas and was a partner in some leather bar/pool hall there (substantiated). She has been seen in in the past at New York City fetish events, sometimes with a "boy" at the end of a leash as well (unsubstantiated). She is also incredibly mercenary and doesn't have a problem screwing her friends (and family) over to get what she wants. She has expensive tastes, is demanding and thoroughly dominates her fiance (whom I think she has now married). Oh well, at least she's good at what she does, and she's not anywhere near as revolting as that Big Pig Monster Star Jones on "The View" ...

Posted by IgaDeeBoo @ 07/20/2002 09:57 AM PST

All I can say is that she is fun to watch. I don't care if the news is written by elves if she reads it, I will watch.

Posted by justaguy @ 08/28/2002 09:33 AM PST

Yeah! Leave her alone.

She's hot, and shes dominating...

Ooooh. :-D

Posted by Ed @ 08/30/2002 11:58 PM PST

Her ratings are just above Donahue's. She is the spitting image of Faye Dunnaway in the movie, Network. She is a weather girl who got lucky and read the Monarch Notes on the mideast before being sent to the region. I would love to see her fat head explode by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem.

Posted by Ben King @ 09/04/2002 06:36 PM PST

Ashleigh is a joke as a journalist. Anyone seen Broadcast News? She is the female version of William Hurt's character. I just saw her last night interviewing Scott Ritter, former arms inspector in Iraq. She demeaned the journalistic profession, and said things to Ritter that were evocative of the McCarthy era--suggested he is a traitor because he dares to criticize the assumptions of the impending war. She is not just bad, she is dangerous.

Posted by ce @ 09/13/2002 07:40 AM PST

Who did Ashleigh Banfield blow to get where she is in this business? She is obviously not a real journalist, she just plays one on tv!

Posted by Jessica Savitch @ 09/14/2002 09:23 PM PST

ASHLEIGH IS RETARDED!! I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THE FIRST POST IN THIS THREAD.

Every time I see these damn commericals about her, I could almost barf! Her stupid, naggy sounding voice that they keep playing over and over and over again where she is spouting off some bitchy orders to the cameraman that he should "please pan in" shows her to be the ass that she truly is. WTF does this bitch come off ordering around a cameraman who has more years of experience than the number of execs that she BJed to get that job?? DO YOU'RE OWN JOB STUPID CUNT! AND PLEASE QUIT ASAP BECAUSE YOU SUCK AT IT!!

thanks.

Posted by Asleigh Sucks @ 09/22/2002 08:22 AM PST

Ashleigh is a total bitch.

Posted by Ashleigh Banfield @ 09/25/2002 07:39 AM PST

Thank god I found this little discussion. I actually thought I was the only one who hated that vain little whore. Just the sight of her makes me want to vomit. I am impatiently waiting for someone to disembowel that stupid cunt. ROT IN HELL YOU WHORE!!!! Get a job that fits you, like sucking dick in a back alley.
I'll be starting a nation wide Ashleigh Hate Club soon. I would like your support in running that bitch out of this country. Thank you.

Posted by J.J. @ 10/09/2002 02:32 AM PST

I'm not really sure why Ashleigh has generated such venom. While she's certainly not my cup of tea, as per my original post, I find a lot of the languague used here to be counter-productive. Therefore, I'm gonna ask you Ashleigh-bashers to confine your rantings to well-reasoned and well-written critiques. No need to get personal, and certainly no need to use the word... uh .. well, you know which ones are out of bounds.

Be smarter, Ashleigh bashers ... I know you can!

Posted by Colin @ 10/10/2002 12:25 AM PST

With all due respect, we're plenty smart. I have worked in and around the field of broadcast journalism for 18 years, and can recognize the difference between a qualified reporter and ones whose "other" qualifications help spring them to stardom, ala Ms. Banfield.
Eventually, her incompetence will bear itself out (if not her abysmal ratings).

Posted by Jessica Savitch @ 10/13/2002 09:13 AM PST

Ashleigh is a great journalist. She deserves to be respected. She presents the news in a way that is easy to understand and interesting. She asks educated, thoughtful questions when interviewing. If she were a man, I doubt she'd be getting half of the criticism she gets now.
I had the pleasure of meeting her in San Francisco, and she is extremely nice and personable. She didn't turn away from anyone and she is really a smart lady. After her show she stayed out in the cold to sign pictures and talk to everyone who was there, cutting into her own dinner time. She is extremely down to earth and a great person.

Posted by RR @ 10/13/2002 02:37 PM PST

Yeah! It's about time! Read to the bottom -- the WSJ couldn't have said it better!

Banfield Loses MSNBC 'Location'
Reuters
Oct 13 2002 9:56PM
NEW YORK (Variety) - MSNBC has canceled "Ashleigh Banfield: On Location," in which the Canadian newshound traveled to the world's hot spots for the cable news network.

After starting off with a respectable average of 427,000 viewers during its premiere week of July 15, "On Location" quickly lost steam, plunging to a low of 164,000 viewers for the week of Aug. 26, when she was undertaking a five-week cross-country bus tour to chat with ordinary Americans.

For the most recent month, the Banfield show averaged 218,000 viewers during its 10 p.m. slot compared to Fox News' 866,000 for "On the Record With Greta Van Susteren" and CNN's 704,000 for "News Night With Aaron Brown."

It will be replaced on Monday by "MSNBC Investigates," a taped magazine hour hosted by John Siegenthaler, which has run in various time periods each weekend. Banfield will serve as alternating anchor on "Investigates."

As MSNBC continues to experiment with its underperforming primetime schedule, the network has imported Marc Rosenwasser, executive editor of "Dateline NBC," to take over, temporarily, as supervisor of MSNBC from 7-11 p.m., Monday through Sunday.

Maybe not so coincidentally, Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman of General Electric, co-parent (with Microsoft) of MSNBC, expressed concern over the cable channel in a Friday interview on Fox News' "Your World With Neil Cavuto."

"MSNBC's ratings are not where we'd like them to be, and we're gonna take some actions to try and get 'em up there," Immelt said. "The standard right now is Fox, and I want to be as interesting and edgy" as the Fox News Channel."

Banfield, 34, got her big break covering the Sept. 11 attacks, and she earned rave reviews in Vogue and Cosmopolitan. But media analysts were not as kind. The Wall Street Journal described her as "unprepared, verbose and incapable of complex analysis."

10/13/02 21:54 ET

Posted by Jessica Savitch @ 10/13/2002 09:26 PM PST

I know Ashleigh very well. I have had the time with her to know that she works harder than most any person I know. She is truly dedicated. C'mon people, who would spend all of their engaged life in a war zone?? We all want to rise too the top of any of our careers, hers happens to be journalism. . . we all sell ourselves unless we have no ambition. However, Ashleigh's ambition makes her non-human. She carries around so much anger that I viewed her from afar knowing that a life revolving around crisis would drive her to the brink. She is terrably smart and almost criminaly vendictive. But, I also think a person as passionate as her, also posses the ugly qualities mentioned. She thinks EVERYONE is stupid and less than her. It is sadly true, I actually really love the kind side of her . . . but there is always a self-serving MO when involved with Ashleigh. She thrives on doing things for people so they can owe her. Do you really think Katie, Oprah or Barbara are nice people? If so, you are kidding yourselves. They are demanding and power&spotlight hungry & willing to sell any story for the right amount of fame and fortune just like Ashleigh. WARNING: If you ever become friends with Ashleigh, don't EVER tell her anything that you don't want used against you later, and if the friendship goes awry expect SEVERE aftershock! PS ashleigh does not spend a lot of money on fashion. Her glasses are the most expensive things that sge wears aside from her jewlery which she bought for a fraction of the price at a charity auction. She wasn't going to sit around and wait for some man to buy anything for her. She shops at Filene's Basement . . . I respect that! She has ZERO fashion sense and will be the first to admit it!

Posted by GONNIE CHUNG @ 10/15/2002 11:56 AM PST

You people who can't see beyond Ashleigh's "designer glasses" need glasses of a different kind. She's no bimbo; she's a gutsy reporter who's not afraid to get dirty on location. Don't hate her cuz she's attractive. And don't hate her because she can afford designer glasses. (You p.o.'d 'cause you can't?) Geez, I'm proud of Ashleigh for wearing glasses at all on TV. She'd be more of a "babe" without them; I think they help her persona as a serious journalist. And just what kind of specs would you prefer she wear, you blind freaks? Get real with yourself——what's the real reason you don't like her? Hate strong women? Hate successful women?
Madison

Posted by Madison @ 10/17/2002 01:56 PM PST

Ashley rocks!!! "The Spring '02 Brooklyn Bridge Collection With Ashleigh Banfield"

Posted by tom mcalister @ 10/18/2002 12:18 PM PST

Well, this is just too much! I cannot stand buy and allow a fellow journalist to be maligned like this. Especially Ashleigh.
KNOCK IT OFF!!!

Posted by Walter Cronkite @ 10/18/2002 04:18 PM PST

Cronkite, let the people speak!

Posted by Edward R. Murrow @ 10/27/2002 01:22 PM PST

Banfield was the most irritating character in TV news. When I saw her in the bushes with the Al Aqsa Brigades and treating these psychopaths like heros, I nearly threw my shoe at the screen.

The next time I observed her, she was wearing a huge cavalor helmet on her head with the TV stenciled in bold letters. With those designer glasses on her head, and that verbose style of speaking, she looked like a Disney character. Give me Christianne Amanpour any day. Christianne is a real journalist. Banfield is a a child with a child's grasp of the history and politics.

Posted by Mario @ 10/31/2002 08:08 PM PST

i wasn't invested or interested in ashleigh's off camera life in any way but her reporting was very meaningful to me. i learned a lot about the conflict and why some factions feel and act as they do. i found her point of view to be both informative and refreshing. i really miss her style of reporting and regret that some of you have intense feelings projected onto her.

Posted by KLL @ 11/17/2002 09:15 AM PST

Banfield demonstrated a clear contempt for the middle eastern policies of the United States and directly or indirectly endeavored to justify the killing of Israeli civilians on the basis of percieved Palestinian grievances.

Her reporting often excused, by nuance or overtly, the murder of Jewish men, women, and children.

She is, as Vladimir Lenin referred to western borgeoise communist syncophants, a "Useful Idiot."

Posted by Roberta @ 11/20/2002 08:31 PM PST

"i learned a lot about the conflict and why some factions feel and act as they do."

Give me a break. By permitting these masked Arab thugs to strut their little macho butts on camera and justify the killing of Israeli men, women, and kids, serves only to inject these monsters and their tactics into the realm of political discourse. By so doing, the news media have "enabled" the terrorism of "Fatah" and its satellites for the last 30 years. Banfield is the latest flash in the pan who comes to modern journalism as an experienced, cutsy Yuppie with a dilletante's grasp of history and politics. She is TV encarnered.

Good Grief!!!

Posted by Dan the Man @ 11/20/2002 08:41 PM PST

I was surfing the web hoping to find out what happened to Ashleigh B. I have been busy at work and so I wasn't paying as close attention to the news as I usually do. I started watching more news this past week and found an Ashley Dearth in full swing. So I decided to check the net.

You can't imagine how pleased I am that she's gone! The birth of this little starlet was just disgusting. She shamelessly exploited the 9/11 tragedy, leaving the dust in her hair well into the day on 9/11. I wouldn't be surprised if she poured more of it on for the dramatic effect. Then MSNBC gave her her "big chance" and she was on constantly, demonstrating her shallow grasp of just about every subject on earth. (Ashleigh, if you're reading this I want to be the first to tell you that the refrigerator light goes off when you close the door.)

Why did it take MSNBC so long to chuck her? I'm glad I'm not the only person who feels this way. WARNING: she'll turn up somewhere, and pretty soon. Her type always does. She might actually be good as a sports broadcaster or something. Heck, we all have to eat. Is that a fair compromise?

Posted by Bob @ 11/24/2002 09:11 AM PST

WTF! I just passed by a television the other night and saw the our idiotistani war bunny on the boob tube again.

I don't know know details of what show or which channel, but it appears the dumb bitch is back.

Don't her moronic employers realize she'd be better suited for interviewing litigants as they exit the People's Court? Or maybe a Massengill commercial?

Ashley, you corrupt the news business. (As if they needed any help!) Please, get the f*ck out!

Posted by Jessica Savitch @ 12/11/2002 10:32 PM PST

Bamby "Bomb" Field would drop on her bony knees, put a kafira on her fat head and give Arafat fillatio if it would get her an interview with the bloody little Turd.

Posted by Mario @ 12/14/2002 02:31 PM PST

You boneheads have nothing better to do but to insult a professional reporter (Banfield). At least when she was reporting we were not getting the "watered down" versions of the news that we are now getting. These kind of comments only proves how inmature you are!

Posted by Fred O. @ 12/19/2002 11:16 PM PST

Dear Fred O. How is the news water down? I hear all sides and make my conclusions. Anyone can access the Internet and read all the major papers in the world. From what I see, the Arab press is worse than Pravda and Izvestia in during the Soviet Regime. "Bomb Field" is a craven and shallow opportunist and a product of an ill informed and poorly educated generation which has been inculcated with the disease of moral relativism.

Posted by Ren @ 12/20/2002 11:54 AM PST

OK So you worthless pieces of crap want to hurl insults at this lady? That's crap. Leave her alone. If, indeed, she did get where she got by strategically blowing TV executives, I have decided what I want to be when I grow up. A TV exec. Ashleigh, please please please turn to porn. I'll buy!

Posted by A Fan @ 02/18/2003 06:49 PM PST

You know, A fan, you are kind of insulting her too.

Posted by Jordan @ 02/27/2003 09:30 PM PST

Ashley has popped up on MSNBC interviewing pro-war demonstrators in Tennessee.

In the past, I found her deeply annoying, mostly because she did terrible interviews--either asking questions that wandered hopelessly around the subject or compensating by asking overly direct questions that no one was going to answer. Also, she simply did not seem to know much about the Middle East. I watched her do a story on Iran, where she seemed to have no clue as to the history before the Iranian revolution in 1979. By not providing any sense of American complicity in the rise of a less than democratic regime, she basically misled anyone who was watching. Obviously she was not the only one responsible, but I can not imagine that anyone who had a clue standing for this.

Posted by Ted @ 03/22/2003 03:52 PM PST

Ok, I've read everything good and bad and personally I thought she was ok, maybe a little too out going. What I want to know is what she is doing now? working? staying at home? what? I think she should still be a reporter on location.

Posted by Cog @ 03/27/2003 07:37 AM PST

at first i loved ashley's style, she asked thorough questions. after awhile she became grating. nevertheless, i must admit i would NEVER PUT MYSELF IN THE PHYSICAL DANGER SHE HAS FOR ANY JOB, AND I'M SURE NEITHER WOULD ANYONE THAT WROTE THE NASTY COMMENTS ABOUT HER. so just for that, for her commitment and desire to get the news out there, DESPITE THE DANGER, BRAVO ASHLEY.

Posted by melina kolansky @ 03/27/2003 11:14 AM PST

I would love to polish Ashley's boots with my tongue. I espied her once in downtown Manhattan and she was wearging leather. She looked very hot. I love how she talks so fast and talks circiles around her interviewees. Very sexy. Lovely face and body.

Posted by Stanley @ 03/28/2003 08:50 PM PST

I too thought I was the only one who can't stand this cow-catcher-jawed egomaniac. Ever since her smarmy "Watch out for your baby!!!" moment on 9/11 she has been in the top 5 of my most hated TV personalities, alongside Barbara "How dare she talk about Jacko's plastic surgery?!" Wa-Wa, Geraldo "Packin' a gun in Pakistan" Rivera, Bob "Nazi Fuck" O'Reilly and the whole crew of Fox 'n Friends. Ok, that's more than 5, but Fox 'n F only have enough brain cells to count as one person.

Posted by john @ 03/31/2003 02:00 PM PST

My comments are directed at any Canadian of Assleigh's ilk. How dare you criticize the umbrella of security the U.S. provides to you and your miniscule 50,000 member military? Another obnoxious, arrogant (ala Chretien), pompous, know nothing. Keep your socialistic, overtaxed ideals north of the border, PLEASE!!! P.S.: I wouldn't doubt the validity of her being a "gasper."

Posted by Vociferous One @ 04/26/2003 08:16 PM PST

Banefield is heading for the status of Fay Dunnaway in the movie "Network." Her square jaw and idiotic glasses accentuate her sophmoric Arabism and Canadian Left Wing idiocy. I predict she will be fired by MSNBC within the year and will wind up teaching journalism at a junior college in Kansas.

Posted by McNamara @ 04/29/2003 12:43 PM PST

Where in the hell has she been? Always nice to look at while flippin'thru to the scrambeled porn!

Posted by Newsmilly @ 09/09/2003 12:55 PM PST

It is a sad commentary on your country that a such a loud-mouthed dimwit, so full of unearned self esteem prescribed (by law?) to females by the socialista Teachers Federation of the peoples republic of Ontario, great white north, could ever find her way to broadcasting to Americans from coast to coast.

Ashley Bamfield is a pathetic
caricature of a human.

Shame on you yankees ... We created a monster any you stupidly let it into your country. Now you must get rid of it - but please don't send her back here !

Posted by Coldfront @ 02/10/2004 01:12 AM PST

i would love to strangle ashleigh anytime.

Posted by Banana @ 07/20/2004 10:58 PM PST

I was out looking for the meaning of "gravitass' and came upon this website and was "shocked!" I can hardly "believe" what and how I am
reading!! If this is the majority of how Americans voice their opinions, especially about other people (doing the news,or whatever)...I am embarassed and humiliated to say the least!! Why can't we find the "good in people"
instead of the worst...we're all bad to some extent...why "exploit & hurt" a person you don't especially care for on the web that covers the world...its awful!

Posted by Alyce @ 08/31/2004 06:50 AM PST

I was out looking for the meaning of "gravitass' and came upon this website and was "shocked!" I can hardly "believe" what and how I am
reading!! If this is the majority of how Americans voice their opinions, especially about other people (doing the news,or whatever)...I am embarassed and humiliated to say the least!! Why can't we find the "good in people"
instead of the worst...we're all bad to some extent...why "exploit & hurt" a person you don't especially care for on the web that covers the world...its awful!

Posted by Alyce @ 08/31/2004 06:50 AM PST

I was out looking for the meaning of "gravitass' and came upon this website and was "shocked!" I can hardly "believe" what and how I am
reading!! If this is the majority of how Americans voice their opinions, especially about other people (doing the news,or whatever)...I am embarassed and humiliated to say the least!! Why can't we find the "good in people"
instead of the worst...we're all bad to some extent...why "exploit & hurt" a person you don't especially care for on the web that covers the world...its awful!

Posted by Alyce @ 08/31/2004 06:51 AM PST

I miss the informative and balanced international reporting of MS Banfield - currently can't stand the one sided short news blips that are constantly repeated on all the networks - IT SEEMS THAT NONE OF THE NETWORKS HAS ANY COURAGE TO GIVE US BALANCED COVERAGE ANYMORE - I've gone back to reading - check out the New Yorker articles AND BRING BACK BANFIELD!!!

Posted by J @ 09/16/2004 02:02 PM PST

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