More Media issues- CNN implodes
The head chief of CNN's news divison. Eason Jordan, was caught at the international conference at Davos, talking about how he knew that American soldiers were targeting journalists for assassination in Iraq. Now, this would indeed be big news if it could be substantiated. But Barney Frank, to his credit, challenged Mr. Jordan to produce any proof. And Mr. Jordan could not, backpedaled quickly, and ended up saying that 'it was just a rumor'. Right now, the story's big on the 'net, and I first got wind of it at the National Review (http://www.nationalreview.com/tks/054944.html).
How bad does this sound? The Chief of CNN talks about rumors that are that potentially damaging? Is there something wrong with this? You bet there is. It's unprofessional, disrespectful, and downright scary. Jordan thought he could get away with the statement, until Mr. Frank did the journalistic thing- ask to back it up. Think about it for half a second: he thought he could get away with it. Plus, it was to an international audience, who may be much more suspectible to believing it without factchecking it- because, after all, this IS the head of CNN that we're talking about.
CNN is in hot water now, and rightly so. It would be one thing if it were true, but by all apperances, it doesn't look like it's true. It looks, sadly, like another "gotcha!" media moment combined with a heavy dose of tin-foil paranoia. I wonder how, once the news breaks out beyond the realms of the 'net, it will affect the bottom line for CNN. Does anyone think that CNN will get ANY recognition from the US and Coalition militaries? How about their stockholders? Or their advertisers? This is going to hurt them far more than Fox News taking viewers away from them ever will.
And Mr. Eason's trying to whitewash the incident by 'clarifying' his statements, in emails to various blogs on the 'net. That tells me that someone at CNN is worried about the story, and that it can only get worse. Now, to be fair, someone at CNN is probably trying to protect their own, which I can understand. But that still doesn't excuse Mr. Eason's arguements. And thanks to the work of Captain Ed (http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/) and others, it's now become apparent that Mr. Eason's remarks weren't a one night show. In fact, he's repeated similar accusations before, in 1993, 2002 and 2003. Plus, he's one of CNN's point men in establishing ties with Saddam's old regime for CNN back in the 1990's- and CNN admitted that they knew of atrocities and assassination attempts committed by the Saddam regime, but remained mum about it in order to keep their soft reporting from Baghdad intact. To be perfectly honest, I'm suprised that no one has taken CNN to task over their actions in supporting the Saddam regime, and in the manner in which they did it. They're, for all intents and purposes, accessories to murder (and in some cases, probably mass murder).
Keep in mind, this whole story comes barely a week after Ted Turner, owner and founder of CNN, opens his mouth and compares Fox News to Hitler and the Nazis. Both incidences are separate, but it's a 1-2 punch that really doesn't look good for their image. As bad as CBS is, their problems are miniscule compared to what CNN will be facing. I'll keep updating as I get news.
For some additional links, check out
http://www.Hughhewitt.com
http://powerlineblog.com
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
How bad does this sound? The Chief of CNN talks about rumors that are that potentially damaging? Is there something wrong with this? You bet there is. It's unprofessional, disrespectful, and downright scary. Jordan thought he could get away with the statement, until Mr. Frank did the journalistic thing- ask to back it up. Think about it for half a second: he thought he could get away with it. Plus, it was to an international audience, who may be much more suspectible to believing it without factchecking it- because, after all, this IS the head of CNN that we're talking about.
CNN is in hot water now, and rightly so. It would be one thing if it were true, but by all apperances, it doesn't look like it's true. It looks, sadly, like another "gotcha!" media moment combined with a heavy dose of tin-foil paranoia. I wonder how, once the news breaks out beyond the realms of the 'net, it will affect the bottom line for CNN. Does anyone think that CNN will get ANY recognition from the US and Coalition militaries? How about their stockholders? Or their advertisers? This is going to hurt them far more than Fox News taking viewers away from them ever will.
And Mr. Eason's trying to whitewash the incident by 'clarifying' his statements, in emails to various blogs on the 'net. That tells me that someone at CNN is worried about the story, and that it can only get worse. Now, to be fair, someone at CNN is probably trying to protect their own, which I can understand. But that still doesn't excuse Mr. Eason's arguements. And thanks to the work of Captain Ed (http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/) and others, it's now become apparent that Mr. Eason's remarks weren't a one night show. In fact, he's repeated similar accusations before, in 1993, 2002 and 2003. Plus, he's one of CNN's point men in establishing ties with Saddam's old regime for CNN back in the 1990's- and CNN admitted that they knew of atrocities and assassination attempts committed by the Saddam regime, but remained mum about it in order to keep their soft reporting from Baghdad intact. To be perfectly honest, I'm suprised that no one has taken CNN to task over their actions in supporting the Saddam regime, and in the manner in which they did it. They're, for all intents and purposes, accessories to murder (and in some cases, probably mass murder).
Keep in mind, this whole story comes barely a week after Ted Turner, owner and founder of CNN, opens his mouth and compares Fox News to Hitler and the Nazis. Both incidences are separate, but it's a 1-2 punch that really doesn't look good for their image. As bad as CBS is, their problems are miniscule compared to what CNN will be facing. I'll keep updating as I get news.
For some additional links, check out
http://www.Hughhewitt.com
http://powerlineblog.com
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/weblog.php
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
posted by Fafhrd1 | 4:06 PM
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