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THE IRAN HOSTAGE CRISIS IN THE MEDIA: HOW NBC EVENING NEWS DESCRIBED
THE EVENT
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Vanessa Mule
JOU4004: History of Journalism
April 16, 2014
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In today’s world, television news relies heavily on emotionalism to attain viewership.
Television news can trace back emotional reporting to important events in American history. One
such event is the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981, which became a symbol of how 1970s
America had lost its way politically, culturally, and militarily. To the American people, while the
hostages had been taken literally, America had been held hostage figuratively. As a result of this
loss of identity, the American people felt a strong connection to the hostages and turned to
television news to learn more about their fate. Television newscasts knew that the strong
connection meant that the American people wanted extensive and emotional coverage; they
focused on images and narratives that could incite reaction from the American public. One
television newscast that used the public’s fascination with the Iran hostage crisis was NBC
Evening News. The television newscasts on NBC during the Iran hostage crisis created an aura
of anger and despair through the visual footage it selected and the narrative format it used.
While the Iran hostage crisis began on November 4, 1979, the troublesome relationship
between the United States and Iran that led to the standoff can be traced back further. For many
decades, the political and military support the United States provided Iran led the shah in power,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, to be considered a “best friend” of the United States.1 By 1979, the
shah’s harsh policies, including a secret police he used to diminish dissent, made him an
unpopular figure in Iran.2 As different religious factions tried to gain power, the popularity of the
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini among everyone from Muslims to Marxists led the shah to flee
1
David Harris, The crisis: the president, the prophet, and the Shah-- 1979 and the coming
of militant Islam (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2004), 9.
2
Ralph E. Dowling, Rhetorical vision and print journalism: reporting the Iran hostage crisis to America
(Ann Arbor, University of Denver, 1984), 54.
3
Iran as a new government under the ayatollah was set up.3 The United States attempted to create
a relationship with the new government, but those in power believed that the United States was a
symbol of Western intrusion into Iranian affairs. By late 1979, the Iranian people were facing a
revolution that erupted once more when thousands of people took over the U.S embassy in
Tehran, taking scores of Americans hostage.4
Television newscasts constantly placed the situation in Tehran at the forefront. This
proved important because “stories that appear first tend to matter more.”5 Typically, foreign
policy debates covered on television were dominated by the president’s administration, but in the
case of the Iran hostage crisis, that was diminished by the “predicament of the hostages and their
loved ones” and by the “aggressively anti-American captors.”6 By the end of November, 98% of
Americans said they were aware of the hostage crisis and 81% described themselves as angry
about it.7 The television newscasts knew that focusing daily on the hostages, their families, and
the Iranians would be the best course of action.
The television newscasts consistently focused on the emotional aspect of the crisis—the
anger people felt, which influenced both the public’s attitude and the crisis’s development.8 The
3
David Harris, The crisis: the president, the prophet, and the Shah-- 1979 and the coming
of militant Islam (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2004), 76.
4
Patricia R. Palmerton, Terrorism and the media: a rhetorical critical analysis of the crisis in Iran (Ann
Arbor: University of Minnesota, 1984), 57.
5
Brigitte L. Nacos, Terrorism and the media: from the Iran hostage crisis to the World Trade Center
bombing (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), 25.
6
Ibid, 30.
7
David Harris, The crisis: the president, the prophet, and the Shah-- 1979 and the coming
of militant Islam (New York: Little, Brown and Co., 2004), 212.
8 Ahmad Abdollahi,
A Content Analysis of the U.S. News Media Coverage of the 1978-1981 Iranian
Revolution and the Hostage Crisis (Ann Arbor: Bowling Green University, 1983), 2.
4
mass media, including television newscasts such as those on NBC, “had the capacity to feed
[the] fascination” of the Iran hostage crisis.9 This was because, as the executive producer of
World News Tonight said, “Look what’s happening to the psyche of the American people […] we
really are being held hostage by this thing.”10 Carter’s trusted advisors believed that the
television newscasts were “parading the whole nightmare before the public” and that it had a
“major impact” on the events that followed. 11 Even a year after the hostages had been taken, the
television networks “took their viewers on an emotionally wrenching review of the past year” by
concluding their newscasts not on the impending election, but with a commemoration of the one
year anniversary of the crisis.12 The Iran hostage crisis therefore ruled the television newscasts
from start to finish.
Specifically, NBC’s television newscast attempted to appease the American public’s
desire for news about the situation by depicting the Iran hostage crisis through specific visual
footage and a specific narrative format. This included footage of the Iranians, footage of the
hostages themselves, footage of the hostages’ families, and footage of Americans’ dissatisfaction
with the handling of the crisis. The first type of visual footage NBC Evening News used was of
the Iranians. On March 6, 1980, for example, a television newscast on NBC showed footage of
Iranians chanting “Down with the U.S!” while they held pictures of the Ayatollah Khomeini.13
9
David Farber, Taken Hostage (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005), 7.
10
Ted Koppel and Kyle Gibson, Nightline: history in the making and the making of
television (New York: Times Books, 1996), 8.
11
Robert J. Donovan and Ray Scherer, Unsilent revolution: television news and American
public life, 1948-1991. (Washington D.C.:Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars, 1992), 151.
12
13
Jordan Hamilton, Crisis: the last year of the Carter presidency (New York: Berkley Books, 1983), 364.
John Chancellor, NBC News, Iran Crisis, 3-6-1980, http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?
RC=509671.
5
On July 24, 1980, Robert Hager reported that a group of Khomeini supporters had killed a man
associated with the Iran Freedom Foundation.14 The report leaves the impression that the people
who were involved in this killing were part of the group of fanatics of the ayatollah but now, the
killings were being carried out on American soil. The visual footage of the suspects candidly
claiming their innocence adds to fears of Muslim extremism. The American people were now
viewing fanatical-looking Iranians putting their fists up and chanting as well as Iranians
allegedly carrying out killings in the United States as a threat to the nation.
Other than Iranians on the streets, NBC Evening News used footage of Iranian officials as
another way to appease viewers. For example, on an NBC newscast that aired on October 30,
1980, the Ayatollah and other government leaders argued and stormed around the parliament.15
The reporter described the scene as one where the Iranian leaders were worried that they were
“losing leverage” if they released the hostages versus if they kept the hostages longer.16 These
hectics images were chosen, much like the images of chanting Iranians on the streets, because of
the impact they would have on the American people. The heated arguments between Iranian
leaders could incite the reaction of the American people that Iranians were gambling with the
lives of American citizens.
Second, NBC Evening News used visual footage of the actual hostages. On March 12,
1980, the first footage of the hostages since their capture aired on NBC. The hostages were
shown being treated by doctors, but Tom Brokaw, who reported the story, said that according to
14
Robert Hager, NBC News, Maryland / Tabatabai Murder, 7-24-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvnvideo-view.pl?RC=511654
15
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Iran / Hostage Crisis, 10-30-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507651.
16
Ibid.
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public health officials the broadcast station had contacted, “they all appeared to be depressed.”17
NBC described the footage released as propaganda that the Iranians were using to hurt the
American people. On December 26, 1980, the hostages were shown in interviews for the holiday
season.18 The captives said they were healthy and well-fed, but the reporters were quick to relate
this back to the state of affairs in general.19 The reporters described this as a “controlled
situation” where the hostages may have said they were fine, but were probably not. Finally, the
reporters described that the hostages were being used—“cynical manipulation” and politics were
the reasons why the hostages were being shown around Christmas.20 Even though the hostages
were shown, it was still brought back to the idea that Americans did not have the power in this
situation and were being used by the Iranian government officials.
While the viewers could connect with limited footage of hostages, viewers could connect
even more with the countless interviews held by the families of the hostages. As a result of this,
the NBC newscasts used the third type of visual footage: extensive interviews with the wives and
families of the hostages. On October 26, 1980, for instance, the newscast showed the wife of
hostage Richard Morefield. The wife, Mrs. Morefield, is described by the reporter as constantly
watching television in case there is news. It shows her reaction to one of the newscasts she
watched, where the latest news was that President Jimmy Carter remained hopeful and was
praying for a resolution to happen soon. In the background, Mrs. Morefield laughs and says, “I
17
Tom Brokaw, NBC News, Hostages in Iran, Inside the Embassy, 3-12-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=852577.
18
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Iran/ Hostage Crisis, 12-26-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
tvn-video-view.pl?RC=508517.
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid.
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hope he’s doing something besides praying!” This outburst aired at 5:30 p.m., so the American
public was exposed to these types of comments by families of the hostages during primetime.
Other examples of families being interviewed for the NBC newscasts occurred on
January 18, 1981, and January 19, 1981, a few days before the hostages were to be released. On
January 18, the family of Jimmy Lopez was interviewed. His mother described the situation as
having gone “up and down so many times” that she did not know what to expect concerning the
negotiated release date.21 The day before the release of the hostages, January 19, multiple
families of the hostages were shown together crying as they saw footage of hostages being
checked by Algerian doctors (who helped broker the deal between the Iranians and the
Americans).22 Throughout the crisis, Americans wanted to hear from those closest to the victims.
Interviews with the families, images of them crying or putting yellow ribbons around trees in
anticipation of their loved ones coming back to the homes, all had an effect on the American
people watching.
Finally, a fourth way NBC used visual footage regarded public dissatisfaction with the
handling of the crisis. For example, on May 9, 1980, a television newscast showed American
protestors with signs that said “Jimmy, do something right, RESIGN NOW.”23 Another example
aired on October 26, 1980, when reporter Bob Franken focused on a vigil being held in honor of
the hostages by a man named Tom Flynn, who had set up 358 American flags representing the
21
Meredith Lewis, NBC Evening News, Iran/ Hostage Crisis, 1-18-1981. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
tvn-video-view.pl?RC=513021.
22
John Chancellor, NBC Evenings News, Iran Hostage Crisis, 1-19-1981. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
tvn-video-view.pl?RC=513038
23
Judy Woodruff, NBC News, Campaign ’80 / Carter, 5-9-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-videoview.pl?RC=510809.
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number of days the hostages had been held captive so far.24 The footage depicts battered flags,
civilians singing “America The Beautiful,” and church services devoted to the hostages.25
Furthermore, in the same newscast, there is another report by Meredith Lewis that showed other
emotional images concerning the dissatisfaction. One example of this is footage of a billboard
that reads: “Have You Thought of the Hostages Today?” with a blindfolded man drawn next to
it.26 The visual footage shown by the NBC newscasts could pull at the heartstrings of viewers,
who continually felt drawn to the hostages’ plight.
Apart from visual footage used, the second way that the NBC newscasts specifically used
emotionalism to get to its viewers was through the narration and commentary offered by the
reporters. The hostage situation was continually reported, like on May 9, 1980, as “not anymore
manageable” than the day before, causing people to continue to feel dissatisfied and as if they
were being figuratively taken hostage themselves.27 On September 16, 1980, John Chancellor
reported new developments and relayed that “as in many things in the hostage story, it could or
could not be meaningful.”28 These types of comments by the anchors were able to create an
atmosphere that made Americans sense that they were in the middle of a situation that would not
be resolved soon. On October 5, 1980, news anchor Jane Pauley signed off the newscast with the
number of days that had passed since the hostage crisis began, much like Walter Cronkite of CBS
24
Bob Franken and Meredith Lewis, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis / War With Iraq,
10-26-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507568
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Judy Woodruff, NBC News, Campaign ’80 / Carter, 5-9-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-videoview.pl?RC=510809.
28
John Chancellor, NBC News, Iran Crisis, 9-16-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?
RC=512524
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News did every night, in a way that showed the news anchor’s own dissatisfaction.29 Finally, it
was not uncommon for President Carter to be the main target of discontent in the newscasts. One
newscast, which aired on October 27, 1980, was skeptical of Carter and described the current
state of affairs as a result of “typical Carter vindictiveness.”30
As the months passed, the 1980 election drew nearer. The NBC newscasts had to balance
the coverage between the election and the Iran hostage crisis. As politics and negotiations
convened on one night, news anchors continued to offer their commentary on the matter. John
Chancellor described the night before the election, November 3, 1980, as “one of the strangest
nights of American history.”31 While the election was important to report on, families of the
hostages were still being interviewed on election day.32 A week later, amidst some rumors that
the hostages would be released soon, the reporters were cautious to remind the American public
that “this optimism has been heard before,” casting doubt on the expected release of the
hostages.33 With trusted newscasters offering these words to the public, they continued to relate
to the American people that nothing was being solved after all.
The negotiation to release the hostages was resolved before President Carter’s loss in the
1980 election, but as a last shot at Carter, the Iranian government decided not to release the
29Jane
Pauley, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis, 10-5-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvnvideo-view.pl?RC=507679.
30
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Campaign ’80 / Iran Hostage Crisis / Debate, 10-27-1980.
http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507583.
31
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Decision ’80: The Final Hours, 11-3-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=859811.
32
Rebecca Sobel, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis / Families, 11-4-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=508157.
33
Marvin Kalb, NBC Evening News, Iran/ Hostage Crisis, 11-12-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvnvideo-view.pl?RC=507821.
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hostages until Ronald Reagan was sworn in. The reporters of NBC News described the situation
as being in “the final stretch,” but reminded viewers that they were still not sure when it would
fully end.34 Then, when the hostages had been released, the crisis remained one of the most
important topics on NBC Evening News. Henry Kissinger, President Richard Nixon’s Secretary
of State, was interviewed to discuss terrorism on NBC.35 He described the Iran hostage crisis as
“pity, sadness, [and] national humiliation” and discredited the Carter administration for not using
force more actively.36 The reporters, news anchors, and interviewees commonly discredited the
administration and cast doubt on the foreign policy of the United States, appeasing the
dissatisfaction of viewers.
The NBC newscasts during the Iran hostage crisis were extensive and typically
emotional. As a result of the strong connection between the American public and the hostages’
plight, the visual footage of the characters involved and the type of narrative that the news
reporters and anchors used conveyed the emotionalism that the American public felt. The visual
footage included images of the Iranians, the hostages, the hostages’ families, and the reactions of
people in the United States. The narrative posed by the television newscasters furthered these
images by casting doubt on the negotiation process. The Iran hostage crisis was a foreign policy
disaster, but it was more so a disaster because of the way the American public reacted than
because Americans were being directly harmed. The television newscasts of the time, such as
34
Marvin Kalb, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis, 12-8-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvnvideo-view.pl?RC=508697.
35
Chris Wallace, NBC Evening News, Special Segment (Dealing With Terrorism), 1-29-1981. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=513197.
36
Ibid.
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those on NBC Evening News, communicated the American public’s reaction of anger and
despair.
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Bibliography
Primary Sources:
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Jordan, Hamilton. 1983. Crisis: the last year of the Carter presidency. New York, N.Y.: Berkley
Books.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- E872.J67x 1983
"
Koppel, Ted, and Kyle Gibson. 1996. Nightline: history in the making and the making of
television. New York: Times Books.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- PN1992.77.N54K66 1996
"
"
Primary Sources from NBC:
"
John Chancellor, NBC News, Iran Crisis, 3-6-1980, http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-videoview.pl?RC=509671
"
Tom Brokaw, NBC News, Hostages in Iran, Inside the Embassy, 3-12-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=852577
"
Judy Woodruff, NBC News, Campaign ’80 / Carter, 5-9-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvnvideo-view.pl?RC=854715
"
Robert Hager, NBC News, Maryland / Tabatabai Murder, 7-24-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=511654
"
John Chancellor, NBC News, Iran Crisis, 9-16-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-videoview.pl?RC=512524
"
Jane Pauley, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis, 10-5-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507679
"
Bob Franken and Meredith Lewis, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis / War With Iraq,
10-26-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507568
"
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Campaign ’80 / Iran Hostage Crisis / Debate,
10-27-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507583
"
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Iran / Hostage Crisis, 10-30-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507651
"
Tom Brokaw, NBC Evening News, Decision ’80: The Final Hours, 11-3-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=859811
13
"
Rebecca Sobel, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis / Families, 11-4-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=508157
"
Marvin Kalb, NBC Evening News, Iran/ Hostage Crisis, 11-12-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=507821
"
Marvin Kalb, NBC Evening News, Iran Hostage Crisis, 12-8-1980. http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/
tvn-video-view.pl?RC=508697
"
John Chancellor, NBC Evening News, Iran/ Hostage Crisis, 12-26-1980. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=508517
"
Meredith Lewis, NBC Evening News, Iran/ Hostage Crisis, 1-18-1981. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=513021
"
John Chancellor, NBC Evenings News, Iran Hostage Crisis, 1-19-1981. http://
tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=513038
"
Chris Wallace, NBC Evening News, Special Segment (Dealing With Terrorism), 1-29-1981.
http://tvnews.vanderbilt.edu/tvn-video-view.pl?RC=513197
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University, 1983.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- E183.8.I55A221 1983a
"
Donovan, Robert J., and Ray Scherer. 1992. Unsilent revolution: television news and American
public life, 1948-1991. [Washington D.C.]: Woodrow Wilson International Center for
Scholars.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- PN4888.T4D66 1992
"
Dowling, Ralph Edward. 1986. Rhetorical vision and print journalism: reporting the Iran
hostage crisis to America. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Denver, 1984.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- E183.8.I55D68x 1984a
"
Farber, David R. 2005. Taken hostage: the Iran hostage crisis and America's first encounter with
radical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection — E183.8.I55F37 2005
"
14
Harris, David. 2004. The crisis: the president, the prophet, and the Shah-- 1979 and the coming
of militant Islam. New York: Little, Brown and Co.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- E183.8.I55H37 2004
"
Nacos, Brigitte Lebens. 1994. Terrorism and the media: from the Iran hostage crisis to the World
Trade Center bombing. New York: Columbia University Press.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- P96.T472U66 1994
"
Palmerton, Patricia Ruby. 1984. Terrorism and the media: a rhetorical critical analysis of the
crisis in Iran. Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Minnesota, 1984.
Location: UF LIBRARY WEST General Collection -- PN4888.T4P34x 1984a
"
Sick, Gary. 1991. October surprise: America's hostages in Iran and the election of Ronald Rea
gan. New York: Times Books.
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