Posted on 02/12/2005 4:51:47 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
For those of us in the information business, this is truly an earth-shaking time. Who would have imagined that the downfall of one of the world's most powerful news executives would be precipitated by an ordinary citizen blogging his eyewitness report at Davos in the wee hours of the morning on Jan. 27? It's simply stunning.
The courage of Rony Abovitz cannot be overstated. This ordinary American citizen raised his voice at an international forum of media and political heavyweights--also attended by Europe's most influential America-haters--and demanded that Eason Jordan back up his poisonous assertion about the American military targeting journalists. Abovitz's remarks prompted Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) to press Jordan for details. Abovitz also received thanks from Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) for standing up. After the event, Abovitz bypassed the MSM and exposed the controversy with a simple click of the mouse.
Fellow attendee/former CNN journalist/blogger Rebecca MacKinnon confirmed Abovitz's account, fielded questions from Hugh Hewitt, and added reporting with her e-mail exchange with Jordan.
From there, a few standout bloggers picked up on the story and refused to let it die. The MSM calls it a lynch mob. I call it a truth squad. Ed Morrissey, Hewitt, La Shawn Barber, Jim Geraghty, and LGF kept "baying"--which got the attention of the blogosphere's most powerful player, Instapundit. Bill Roggio quickly created the group blog, Easongate, to keep on top of the story. Legions of smaller bloggers, too numerous to mention, kept the heat on. N.Z. Bear pitched in with a helpful Easongate tracker.
The relentless Hewitt used his blog, radio show, and Jay Rosen and Jeff Jarvis to cover the story, observing, "You can't cover the press if you don't press the coverage."
On Feb. 4, intrepid blogger Sisyphean Musings contacted the World Economic Forum in an effort to obtain a videotape of the forum--which was eventually rebuffed. Rosen, meanwhile, went to work and contacted BBC journalist Richard Sambrook, who was on the Jordan panel, for a statement. Sambrook backed Jordan.
But what about the other panelists? Enter this blog.
I myself came "late" to the story--by blogospheric standards, not MSM standards. On Feb. 1-2, I was traveling and only had time to briefly glance at a on Captain's Quarters about Jordan's remarks. I noticed coverage on Instapundit and Hugh Hewitt when I returned home, but did not take the time to read up on all the background until the weekend. My first brief posts on Easongate weren't until Feb. 6, when I simply provided to others covering the story.
The next day, Monday Feb. 7, I thought it might be helpful to try and advance the story by calling up some of the panel participants. Rep. Barney Frank returned my call first thing Monday morning. David Gergen returned my call in the early afternoon. Sen. Chris Dodd's office provided a statement by late afternoon.
Powerline concluded prophetically: "Eason Jordan is finished."
And the dam broke bigtime.
On Tuesday Feb. 8, CNN employee and Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz finally published a story on the controversy, rehashing much of what I'd reported on this blog--except with a transparent coat of whitewash. Kurtz was roundly mocked by the blogosphere and has done permanent damage to his reputation as an effective media critic. Roger L. Simon said it best: "All in all, this is not an article, more of a place holder..." See also Kaus.
Among the MSM, the Toledo Blade's Jack Kelly, the Riverside Press Enterprise editorial page, and the Washington Times editorial page, and Investor's Business Dail were on the ball. So, too, the New York Sun. The New York Post published my column on Wed. Feb 9. That night, CNBC's Larry Kudlow had three senators on who agreed with the column's conclusion that Jordan had recklessly slimed our troops. Then came the rest, including a strange footnote from the WSJ op-ed page that will look even stranger in hindsight for ridiculing the "usual Internet suspects" that brought down a previously untouchable MSM giant.
The shock waves that have overwhelmed CNN started with a single blogger and reverberated worldwide. I agree with Rony Abovitz that there should be no joy in watching Eason Jordan's downfall. But there is certainly great, unadulterated satisfaction in seeing the collective efforts of the blogosphere--citizens and professional journalists among them--produce the one thing the MSM has for too long escaped in its walled-off world: accountability.
Cue the Carpenters music: We've Only Just Begun.
*** Other analysis...
Mark Coffey's take on The Lessons of Easongate.
The tireless Captain Ed on the moral of Eason's Fables.
Jim Geraghty says "we learned that a lot of people in major media institutions thought this was a tempest in a teacup, unworthy of even a paragraph of coverage." Yup.
Instapundit has more.
Jeff Jarvis, who will be on Kurtz's CNN show on Sunday, sez: "Oh, yes, and before we forget... Davos: Release the tape! You, too, can't stonewall or your little club will become known as the place where the powerful can try to lie."
Ditto to that.
Rebecca MacKinnon and Jay Rosen follow up. Most interesting comment on Rosen's site comes from a poster named "veteran journo:"
A few things strike me that I haven't yet seen others pick up on. The "mis-spoke" defence is all very well, but if there's anyone who knows or should know how to be quoted, how not to be quoted and how to avoid being misquoted it's a journalist with Jordan's experience.
If he were a "civilian" I could understand the "tempest in a teapot" view but this guy is a journalist who quotes people everyday.
Ditto, for telling stories that CNN hadn't aired. If they hadn't broadcast the story about the Al Jazeera journo forced to eat his shoes, it's because they couldn't get people to talk about it on the record. A news executive can't go passing on those rumours in a semi-public forum. If the standard of proof wasn't good enough to get it on CNN, it 's not good wnough to discuss at a forum in Davos. Maybe at Jordan's dinner table but not Davos.
To me, these two mistakes are inexcusable coming from a news executive. And they are indeed grounds for firing or resigning.
I still believe it would be better to show the tape because I think journalists can't possibly argue against that given the nature of the Davos forum.
...there's something very wrong about journos and power brokers attending huge "off the record" gatherings.
Honestly, I would never agree to be off the record at such an event.
Anyway that's my take -- inescapably bad errors of judgement. He had to go.
ROFL!
Ah Hah!!! So ya did notice my ping-a-ling!!!
now I don't know if it is fair to say that CNN is 100 per cent against the military, maybe 90 per cent
I mean the CNN embeds during the Iraqi war itself gave some of the most brilliant reporting from Iraq, along with a few other notables, one British fellow for ITV who I think fed CNN his coverage and the fellow from MSNBC who died during the war....the whole embed experience gave such a positive light on the troops, on their day to day existence and struggles....showing the bravery of the soldiers, I still remember the coverage of a particular ambush and the soldiers that risked their lives to save other soldiers....
I'll never forget, I was clued to the TV during the war, I fell asleep on the couch and woke up around 3:00 am our time, as usual the exciting stuff usually started then, to see some fellow, I think it was the ITV guy affiliated with CNN, and a CNN crew were driving around Iraq at a very dangerous time, just after the fall of Baghdad, they were heading for Tikrit, my heart was pounding for three hours, they were driving into Iraqi military bases, which turned out to be deserted but they just as easily may not have been or they could have been rigged with bombs or land mines, and finally arriving in Tikrit where they did run into some trouble with some unfriendly natives.......and barely escaped, as shots were being fired at them as they escaped and some Iraqis e following them in vehicles....
regarding journalists at risk covering Iraq since then, the military has warned journalists time and time again about the dangers, if some journalists ignore that and especially those interviewing insurgents or going along for attacks, like I believe Al Jazeera did, who better to keep the jihadist videotape library, real and fake, stocked up...I mean when I heard Al Jazeera cameramen may have been filming hostage videos for "insurgents" well if those cameramen get killed because they were foolish to be aiding and abetting the terrorists, no sympathy from me
Once again, Michelle excels in coallating information that is chock full of very useful and revealing links. Though, kudos should go to LaShawn Barber. Who's been on the Eason story since its revelation on the net.
Outstanding investigative techniques and follow~up by all and sundry!
Next target of opportunity. UC's Professor Churchill!
Jack.
"Don't argue with a man who buys electrons by the barrel."
Congressman Billybob
Click for latest, "Was Howard Dean behind a Daring Art Theft?"
We need the DAVOS tape Jack Deth.
Yes, we do need the Davos Tape, JesseJane. I don't foresee it being given up without a few months of stalling and bureaucratic delays.
Jack.
Freedom of speech does not apply to outrite lies
http://sisypheanmusings.blogspot.com/2005/02/easongate-update.html
Easongate:
I also want to comment on "Easongate", since my efforts to obtain the video has some small role to play.
Let's begin by stipulating that journalists have been killed in Iraq AND that some of those journalists were killed by U.S. fire. The Committee to Protect Journalists statistics shows nine journalists have been killed by "U.S. fire". I don't know when the page was last updated. (UPDATE: Zed at Resonant Information, and blanknoone at FreeRepublic, put together separate lists of journalists killed in Iraq)
Let's begin that if one stipulates numbers as fact, they better have a solid credible source. We no longer accept notes from mom as a source. >gr
Thanks for the info. The list put together by blanknoone got picked up by the CaptainsQuarters blog as a very important addition to the BlogStorm about Eason Jordan...Several other Blogs then referenced the Captainsquarters blog.
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