I saw that too and I wondered if he was apologizing or if he was trying to get back into someone's good graces. The thing about reporters is that they allow to be compromised and their reports distorted for all sorts of reasons and it doesn't even occur to them that reporting slanted news is like reporting lies.
They are willingly used as propaganda and still parade themselves arrogantly as high-minded investigators of the truth! It's not pressure from madmen like Saddam that puts them in these compromising situations - it's their own ego that does it.