Posted on 02/13/2005 9:48:55 PM PST by jocon307
The writers of these columns believe that, in addition to having opinions, we are ultimately in the same information business as the rest of the press corps. Which is why we try to break news whenever we can if a story merits the attention. So it was only normal for our Bret Stephens to report a January 27 panel discussion he attended at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, during which CNN's Eason Jordan appeared to say--before he tried to unsay it--that U.S. troops had deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq. Mr. Stephens's story appeared the next day in our Political Diary, an e-mail newsletter for subscribers that is part of this Web site. It is the first account by any news organization of what has come to be known as Easongate.
By now, everyone on the Good Ship Earth knows that this particular story ended Friday with Mr. Jordan's abrupt resignation from CNN. This has certain pundits chirping delightedly. It has been a particular satisfaction to the right wing of the so-called "blogosphere," the community of writers on the Web that has pushed the Eason story relentlessly and sees it as the natural sequel to the Dan Rather fiasco of last year.
But Easongate is not Rathergate. Mr. Rather and his CBS team perpetrated a fraud during a prime-time news broadcast; stood by it as it became obvious that the key document upon which their story was based was a forgery, and accused the whistleblowers of the very partisanship they themselves were guilty of. Mr. Rather still hasn't really apologized.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
The MSM is getting the same kind of treatment that MDs have been getting for the past 20 years. They now know the blogosphere world of second guessing and where everyone is and can be an expert(more so than a J-school grad).
Wait until their paychecks drop, then you will hear real anguish!
I see it as getting to the truth. If the WSJ wants to pretend that what Eason Jordan said wasn't a big deal, well, then they're the ones with the problem.
"If he wants to believe in private that journalists were targeted, that's surely his right, no?"
No, it's not OK if what he believes isn't true. If I want to believe in little green men from the moon, or I decide to vote for whomever News of the World's Alien endorses for President, maybe that is one thing. But I'd think it would disqualify me from running one of the largest NEWS outlets in the world.
And if he has some reason beyond private musings or predjudice to think the American military DOES target journalists for death, he ought to come forward with it. I couldn't care less about the pantie wearing terrorists in Abu Grahib, but I would be HORRIFIED to hear our military were willfully killing journalists.
And as for the fight, well the WSJ started it. I'm amazed they don't consider themselves a part of the "new" media, but evidently they do not.
HH also said that Eason is a college DROPOUT......wonder what year he completed.
Eason Jordan's admission that CNN had covered up for Saddam so as to be able to report from Baghdad was a biggie - and probably should have had him canned. In essence, he was saying CNN had cut a deal, and had compromised its integrity. But they couldn't can him without cries of "retaliation" - and so, they decided to wait for him to screw up.
Now, we fast-forward to this Marianne Pearl thing. Making the gossip pages like that ain't the sort of thing that reflects well on the network, but a guy's personal life isn't really something you can fire him over.
Now, you have this wild charge, which could affect CNN's ability to get tips and information from sources in the Pentagon. BINGO! Now you can ease him out, and ask him to resign "for the good of the network." The thing about his comments wasn't their nature, but on the effect it might have on CNN's ability to get stories from the Pentagon - and so, CNN had something that they could use to finally force him out.
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