CNN News Executive Eason Jordan Quits

[Dookus]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050211/ap_en_tv/tv_cnn_jordan_2

NEW YORK - CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan quit Friday amidst a furor over remarks he made in Switzerland last month about journalists killed by the U.S. military in Iraq (news - web sites).



Jordan said he was quitting to avoid CNN being "unfairly tarnished" by the controversy.


During a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum (news - web sites) last month, Jordan said he believed that several journalists who were killed by coalition forces in Iraq had been targeted.


He quickly backed off the remarks, explaining that he meant to distinguish between journalists killed because they were in the wrong place where a bomb fell, for example, and those killed because they were shot at by American forces who mistook them for the enemy.

[truthpusher]

1. CNN chief resigns over Davos remarks

http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=25902991&brk=1

CNN chief resigns over Davos remarks

By David B. Wilkerson
Last Updated: 2/11/2005 7:01:20 PM

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Eason Jordan, CNN's chief news executive, said Friday evening that he would resign amid controversy over statements he allegedly made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Jordan, a 23-year veteran of CNN, said in a memo to staffers that he is leaving to prevent the network from "being unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq."

Published reports said Jordan had claimed during a Jan. 27 panel discussion in Davos that 12 journalists in Iraq had been targeted and killed by American troops.

(snip)

Jordan's comments added to a perception among many bloggers and some Fox enthusiasts that CNN's coverage is tainted by a liberal bias, similar to charges leveled at Viacom's CBS television network and other media outlets.

complete story here:
http://www.investors.com/breakingnews.asp?journalid=25902991&brk=1


This story was discussed previously on DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1222937

[elehhhhna]

2. Were the 12 journos killed by our troops or not?

[Mojambo]

3. That question will never be answered

And to most people, is irrelevent.

[SOS]

47. From today's New York Times:

"Ann Cooper, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said that 54 journalists were killed in 2003 and 2004 . At least nine died as a result of American fire, she said."

[98geoduck]

4. In other words, CNN is going to Suck Worse.

[GetTheRightVote]

5. Did he let the cat out of the bag and was suppose to be quite instead ?

It sounds like another white wash by the repubs.

:kick:

[juajen]

22. Quiet, dagnabit,, not quite.

I'm on a tear tonight.

[EST]

23. Thanks, I didn't understand the comment

'til you clarified it.
Why the extra comma?

[diamond14]

6. run out by the bushites for TELLING THE TRUTH......

sad....probably stepped down to protect his family....

[Cocoa]

52. yep

huge gaffe for "the most trusted name in news" to report what happened.

[hector459]

37. Should we be looking for a new book telling all about CNN?

I would hope so.

[newsguyatl]

7. eason was one of the few

good guys left at cnn.

[Psephos]

15. Yeah, so good that he ignored torture to keep CNN's Saddam access

That's by his own admission, btw.

Eason lied, and people died. I say good riddance.

[not systems]

26. Your funny...

Saddam was just building out the rape rooms for the pro's arrive.

[stray cat]

8. DVD Control Room - suggested Arab reporters were targeted.

Not individually but by a couple of air strikes. Two different sites on the same day so it sounded suspicious.

[Imajika]

11. Control Room is a great movie

I saw it on Sundance I believe. Terrific movie. Really highlights the differences between the Western and Arab press. Killing that al-Jazeera journalist really hurt the USA in the eyes of an already skeptical Arab press and public.

I hightly recommend this movie.

Imajika

[TomClash]

9. The White House wanted this

and he was forced out. You can bet your last dollar on it.

This is FASCISM.

[nashville_brook]

31. amen bro!

hope you don't me calling you bro -- i'm apoplectic!

you are so freakin right... this is what the White House wanted. The freakin run all the cable nooz.

earlier today someone commented on "how sad" it is that stories like GannonGate are having to be broken in the BLOGS. well, no shit -- blogs are the only place to get the unbought TRUTH. it's so pynchon.

[TomClash]

35. Bro is fine

Best line: It's so pynchon.

[Fleshdancer]

10. Did his remarks make major waves or something???

Pardon my ignorance, but I've been TV free now for about three weeks so I didn't even know about Jordan's comments much less the controversy (if any) surrounding it.

Have the right wingers started a smear campaign against him or something??

[KittyWampus]

12. No, But Ultimately His Remarks Suggest War Crimes

[Fleshdancer]

16. If this is what he believes, then he shouldn't back down.

Sad. Backing down now for fear of taking any heat or criticism is WEAK. Beyond pathetic. If he honestly suspects that journalists were targeted by coalition forces, then he has the ethical responsibility of investigating the situation until the truth is uncovered.

Could you imagine heading a NEWS organization and NOT investigating a story like this????

[Skeptic_All]

24. No........his remarks, by his own admission were taken

out of context. Personally, I do not believe he should have resigned nor should have CNN pressured him into doing so. After all, whether his alleged comments were his belief or not, are we not entitled to our opinions?

[nashville_brook]

32. CIVIL LAWSUIT -- prove WAR CRIMES in civil court

i'm in fantasyland, but the is a great set-up to bring a civil lawsuit grounded on the fact that what Eason claims is IN FACT true. use all the methods and documentation that we have in terms of being a reasonable observer.

even if they don't go for a WAR CRIMES definition in court, they could go a LONG WAY toward exploring the contours of what we can agree on is acceptable speech for a reporter. i sustpect reporters would be protected by the first amendment, so the question might rest on whether they are "public figures."

such a public hashing-out would be beneficial for everyone, i think. am i crazy?

[Desert Liberal]

17. Whew, really glad I'm not the only 'TV-free' one around here!

[tishaLA]

34. Yes, the wingnut blogs have been targeting him

Since an appearance a couple weeks ago. It started with this blog entry: http://www.forumblog.org/blog/2005/01/do_us_troops_ta.html

and it made its way around the wingnut blogylvania since then. Part of the problem with this is that the talk was supposed to be off the record . No recordings exist, only contradictory recollections by various attendees, so we don't know exactly what he said, just impressions.

[bear425]

46. Yes, the wingnuts set up a site calling for his resignation

www.easongate.com

here is the registration info:

WHOIS information for easongate.com:



Registration Service Provided By: DNS Services
Contact: [email protected]
Visit:

Domain name: easongate.com

Registrant Contact:

Bill Roggio ([email protected])
+1.6099533720
Fax: None
204 Brandywine Court
Medford, NJ 08055
US

Administrative Contact:

Bill Roggio ([email protected])
+1.6099533720
Fax: None
204 Brandywine Court
Medford, NJ 08055
US

Technical Contact:

Bill Roggio ([email protected])
+1.6099533720
Fax: None
204 Brandywine Court
Medford, NJ 08055
US

Billing Contact:

Bill Roggio ([email protected])
+1.6099533720
Fax: None
204 Brandywine Court
Medford, NJ 08055
US

Status: Locked

Name Servers:
NS3.HMDNSGROUP.COM
NS4.HMDNSGROUP.COM

Creation date: 05 Feb 2005 00:57:11
Expiration date: 05 Feb 2006 00:57:11

[AlCzervik]

13. he sent me a snarky ass email when the future Mrs. ex limbaugh

started dating her future ex huband, we went a few rounds via his blackberry. Hey Eason...i think CNN has already been tarnished.

[susu369]

20. Good for you!

Your post tells me all I need to know.

[CHIMO]

14. Family of Spanish Journalist Killed by U.S. Forces in Baghdad Accuses U.S.

Family of Spanish Journalist Killed by U.S. Forces in Baghdad Accuses U.S. of War Crime

We speak with Javier Couso and Maribel Permuy, the brother and mother of Spanish journalist, Jose Couso, who was killed by US forces in an attack at the Palestine hotel in Baghdad on April 8th 2003. They are calling on a full investigation into whether journalists were deliberately targeted by the military.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 8th of 2003 will be remembered as a bloody day for journalists in Iraq. On the same day, American troops fired a rocket on the bureau of Arab news service Al Jazeera, killing correspondent Tareq Ayyoub. Then the staff of another Arab station, Abu Dhabi TV, was attacked in their offices by American artillery. And finally a tank fired on the Palestine Hotel, where most of the unembedded reporters were staying. This last attack killed two people, Reuters photographer Taras Protsyuk, from the Ukraine, and Jose Couso, cameraman for the Spanish television station Telecinco who had been filming the tank from the hotel balcony all morning. Couso initially survived the attack and told his colleague that the Americans had seen him, and that he felt they had fired deliberately. He later died in the hospital.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/23/1457213&mode=thread&tid=25

[depakid]

18. CNN being "unfairly tarnished"

bwahahahahha

:nopity:

[lindsayg]

19. another victim of the rabid mad dog RIGHT.....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1021480,00.html

[MadAsHellNewYorker]

21. Will the Pentagon Target Journalists in Iraq?

Will the Pentagon Target Journalists in Iraq? An Interview with Veteran BBC War Correspondent Kate Adie

From democracy now

Friday, March 14th, 2003

snip

In an interview on Irish Radio last Sunday, veteran BBC war correspondent Kate Adie said a senior Pentagon official told her that US planes will target any electronic communications on the ground, even if they are operated by journalists.

Adie also said that when she questioned the Pentagon official about the consequences of targeting journalists, the senior Pentagon officer replied QUOTE: "Who cares? . . . They've been warned."

/snip

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=03/04/07/0321256

Embedded, Restricted, Dead
They Shoot Journalists, Don't They

by Norman Solomon

March 11, 2004

snip

On April 8, during a pair of assaults, the U.S. military killed three journalists and wounded several more. In mid-August, American forces killed an award-winning cameraman. CPJ's report includes summaries of those events, and -- if you read between the lines -- they shed a lot of light on the Pentagon's lethally cavalier attitude.

* "In the first attack, a U.S. warplane struck an electricity generator outside the Baghdad bureau of the Qatar-based satellite channel Al-Jazeera, killing reporter Tareq Ayyoub. The attack occurred in an area of heavy fighting, although Al-Jazeera noted that it had provided the Pentagon with the coordinates of its offices weeks before the incident. The nearby office of Abu Dhabi TV also came under U.S. fire at the time. In October, a U.S. military spokesman acknowledged to CPJ that no investigation into the incident was ever launched."

/snip

http://www.counterpunch.org/solomon03112004.html

[applepicker]

25. CNN is trying to be FOX

In my view this is just another step in their move to become Right Wing like FOX. NPR currently moving that way also. There is very little fair news any more.

[ihelpu2see]

45. Brit Hume should resign from Faux News for using

FDR quotes to fabricate a lie about FDRs intentions for S.S. Hume deliberately rearranged FDR quotes to fit the white house propaganda. see. http://mediamatters.org/items/200502040010

[TexasLawyer]

27. How dare Jordan Eason

imply that the US military might be guilty of acts that the US military looks as if it might be guilty of!!! I bet the Freeper pressure on CNN was just unbelievable.

Moral of the story-- keep your thoughts to yourself. Maybe you won't go to Gitmo for speaking out (for now), but you WILL lose your job and be forever blacklisted.
********************************


U.S. attacks kill three journalists
Tuesday, April 8, 2003 Posted: 2113 GMT ( 5:13 AM HKT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- U.S. military attacks killed three journalists in two different buildings in Baghdad Tuesday, raising questions about the tactics of U.S. troops trying to take control of the Iraqi capital. A U.S. attack on the Palestine Hotel killed Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk, 35, a Ukrainian national based in Warsaw, Poland, the news agency said. It also said three other employees were wounded in the attack. Spanish television network Telecinco cameraman Jose Couso also was killed, according to Telecinco. Couso died during surgery.

Separately, Al-Jazeera television reporter Tariq Ayoub was killed at the Arab language network's facilities on the other side of the Tigris River from the Palestine Hotel, near Iraq's Ministry of Information. Three other Al-Jazeera employees were wounded in the strikes, the network reported. The Palestine Hotel has been a base for much of the non-Iraqi news media, including CNN before its correspondents were asked to leave the country. Iraq's Ministry of Information has a press office at the hotel and has been holding its morning briefings there.

Al-Jazeera charged that its facilities were deliberately targeted, an allegation denied by U.S. Central Command. "... we don't target journalists deliberately -- not now, not ever," said Central Command spokesman Brig. Gen. Vince Brooks at his daily briefing Tuesday. Reuters said the incidents raise questions about the judgment of advancing U.S. troops. ''I note that the commander of the U.S. 3rd Infantry has now said that one of its tanks fired a round at the Palestine Hotel," Reuters Editor-in-chief Geert Linnebank said in a statement. "He said it did this after it came under fire from the hotel." "... the incident nonetheless raises questions about the judgment of the advancing U.S. troops who have known all along that this hotel is the main base for almost all foreign journalists in Baghdad. (The Reuters cameraman's) death, and the injuries sustained by the others, were so unnecessary. "

Journalists from three Western television networks told CNN they were in the Palestine Hotel when the tank fired and saw no outgoing fire from the hotel. The U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces came under "significant enemy fire" from both buildings and responded "consistent with the inherent right of self-defense."

<snip>

The Committee to Protect Journalists said Tuesday that the incidents violated the Geneva Conventions and called for an "immediate and thorough investigation," the results of which should be made public. Overall, nine journalists, including the three who died Tuesday, have been killed in combat situations since the Iraqi war began; two others have died in noncombat related incidents, according to various media reports.

<snip>

[UL_Approved]

40. Link please

I would like a link to the article.

[TexasLawyer]

41. Sorry about that. Here's the link:

http://edition.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/04/08/sprj.irq.hotel/

[UL_Approved]

42. Thank you. n/t

[zbdent]

28. Too bad Manthrax doesn't have any morals

http://mediamatters.org/items/200502100010

[nashville_brook]

29. you have GOT to be kidding me: TARNISHING CNN? how? by saying the truth?

ack! there HAS to be a soft landing for people like this who are being FORCED out of the mainstream b/c of cable's freakin stupid standard of Patriotically Correct speech!


yeow.

come to the light...

[Lilith Velkor]

57. Exactly.

CNN would lose access and ad revenue if they started telling the truth.

[Stinky The Clown]

30. What was the name of the Captain of the Titanic?

At least he displayed the high sense of duty and honor to go down with *his* ship.

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[riverwalker]

36. oh.my.gawd.

don't like this at all. Jorden has been with CNN a long long time. He was one of the good guys. Who will replace him? Daryn Kagen-Limbaugh?

[progressivebydesign]

38. Eason Jordan actually took the time to reply to an email of mine..

.. during the election. He was totally wrong, of course, but he did respond. He was defending CNN's incorrect reporting that the WMD had been "moved". Remember that debacle? He was actually quite civil, but sadly, totally, and completely, wrong.

[lovuian]

39. Free Journalism is really dead!!! State controlled TV & Media

is alive & well!!!

[Make7]

43. Cameraman shot dead in Iraq.

"The Pentagon has confirmed that US troops have shot and killed a cameraman working for Reuters news agency in Iraq..."

"The shooting happened at Abu Ghraib prison..."

"The incident took place in daylight on Sunday afternoon..."

"His sound engineer, Nael al-Shyoukhi, said that the pair had spoken to a US soldier near the prison shortly before the shooting. 'They saw us and they knew about our identities and our mission,' he said..."

"Two shots were fired from a US tank..."

Source: BBC News - August 18, 2003

__________

Perhaps Eason Jordan is right and resigning is his punishment.

-Make7

[applegrove]

44. The poor guy was likely telling the truth. Now we know why the MSM

The poor guy was not lying. (See the documentary The Newsroom ).

Now we know why the MSM are so silent. Psychopaths are "career enders" for anyone targeted by them. You cannot say what you feel or know - unless you can prove it in court. Imagine how silent you would be in the Rove machine (no relations to the nepharious character type described in previous sentences - as always) had its sites set on you.

All over the world - sociopaths ruin the careers of doctors, journalists, politicians, etc. Just think how long and hard Jordan worked to get to the top and what it means to him to loose that job he may have worked tirelessly for 30 years for. And now - because he told the truth in a private meeting - he looses it all (but only for a bit Jordan). Think how silent people will be at the next DAVOS meeting. The disease of silence spreads as more and more examples are made of.

Is it any wonder that the only people who speak out are at this point either retired (Christine Todd Whitman, Clarke etc.) or they are in unrelated fields where they feel secure (comedy). Even they don't feel secure.

What exactly do you think the sign with photos of Bush thanking Whoopee Goldberg, Martin Shean et all is about? It is about making examples of people and intimidation. This sign is put up one block from where the academy awards (or some such event) will take place.

Like I said before - the sociopaths has to get ahold of all of your totems (leaders, inspirations, etc.) to isolate their enemies from any support or leadership.

:grr:

[hack89]

48. He said something he couldn't prove

He may be right but if you are going to claim that the US army had a deliberate policy of targeting journalist, you better have some damn good evidence to survive the resulting firestorm. Instead of providing proof, he immediately tried to evade the issue, letting the issue take on a momentum that overwhelmed him.

[applegrove]

50. Bet you that is the last time anyone tells the truth at DAVOS

[hack89]

53. The "truth" needs evidence

He has none. He shot from the hip in front of what he thought was a sympathetic audience and got burned when word spread beyond Davos. Remember, Barney Frank was there and immediately called him on it. Barney understood that Jordan would hand conservatives a serious weapon to impugn all liberals unless Jordan had real proof to back up his claims. As far as I see there is no proof - at least Jordan has none.

[applegrove]

54. "The Newsroom" the documentary. Tells you have obvious it is when

Tells you have obvious it is when the bombs are smart ones and you have given the coordinates to the Command.

Was only once example in the movie. And then if there were 40 journalist deaths - well - I'd wonder too.

Not a good time to be a human being or to think like one. One thing you can say about sociopaths - they hold you to a set of rules like none that ever existed before - even while they break all the basic human decency ones at the same time: it really, really is about one set of rules for them, of set of rules for their opposition.

And do we not ream journalist on this board for not speaking out and speaking loud about "suspicions"? A very small field to play in these days - if you are human and a journalist.

Personally, I am very sorry to hear that some feeling CEO got nailed for being a feeling CEO. But that was the goal wasn't it.

[Trish1168]

58. its a circumstantial case, but there is a case to be made

http://ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=27429

"The panel accused western corporate media of filtering and suppressing information, and of marginalising and endangering independent journalists. More journalists were killed in a 14-month period in Iraq than in the entire Vietnam war"

I think this is a question that should be looked into. Vietnam spanned more than a decade, with far more American dead. Iraq is not more dangerous...so, Why are so many more journalists dying? I don't think its the insurgents. I've heard the insurgents don't mind the reporters (they want their story to get out).

I don't think its something the soldiers would do on their own (unless they've been taking that malaria drug that causes them to hallucinate).

I don't know if the journalists have been targeted. But, if its true (and hopefully we'll know someday)....then its only more testimony for the war crimes trial that will eventually happen.

[SOS]

49. "Jeff Gannon"

is the obvious choice to fill the vacancy.

[librechik]

51. FIRE BRIT HUME!!

whose lying remarks about Social security and FDR were MEANT to mislead, not to inform, aqs Eason obviously meant to, howver triumphantly he was misinterprte4d.

This is an outrage

[applegrove]

55. A scary time to be a journalist - and I am not talking about in Iraq!!!

Jordan still is one of the good guys. Jordan will be back. And Jordan will get an award for telling the truth.

[DBoon]

56. Didn't the US military tell a BBC reporter ....

early on in the conflict that unembedded reporters attempting to use satellite phones would be targeted?

Wasn't there a minor furor over this at the time, as it was taken as a threat to members of the press that did not agree to the embedded controls/censorship?

Or did this disappear into a memory hole?

[Trish1168]

59. here's what I found from a search, I think the CNN guy was right

Read these stories.. The first two are about the BBC reporter that you remembered. You were right that the issue was not with embedded reporters (those have to be approved by the pentagon). The issue is with independent reporters (or un-embedded). The military does not like them. I guess they might have the notion to actually tell the truth. Although, the pentagon had other explanations for why they were going after those signals.

http://www.fair.org/press-releases/iraq-journalists.html
http://www.back-to-iraq.com/archives/000277.php#000277

If you read the above, then you should read this story below.

http://www.fromoccupiedpalestine.org/node.php?id=656&PHPSESSID=7972dc05365803eb03e0c81e8b6233c6

After reading this last story, how can you doubt it (unless the witnesses were not being honest)? The CNN guy was probably right, but whose going to be brave enough to shed light on this issue? Look at what happened to him.

[ausiedownunderground]

60. Why is it that no American Journo has been killed by friendly fire?

Oz media articles report up to 54 journalists have been killed in Iraq by US forces or Guerrilla forces. Not one of them is an American? All worked for independent news sources or foreign media sources. Most were not embedded with the US military. A lot of these journalists had reported on, or were working on US military atrocity stories in Iraq. The message is clear - Shut up or we'll shut you up! Why is it that Americans find it so hard to handle that their military is as brutal as most other countries militaries are. Look at the Russians in Chechnya,Chinese in Tibet,Indians in Kashmir,Israelis in Palestine,Indonesians in Aceh,Phillippines in Mindaneo & Jolo,Colombians in Venezuela etc etc etc. The US military's conduct in waging a guerrilla war in Iraq is no different to any other army now or in history thats had to come to grips with a popular and effective guerilla war against them. This Jordan character was just stating the obvious to the "Rest of the World". We know the US military is brutal! and a US military run by "The Bush Gang" will be several layers of brutality higher! Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca, the use of Chemical Weapons in Fallujah and Al Tafar, radiological weapons at Baghdad International Airport,Depleted Uranium munitions use t/out Iraq, black-ops kidnappings of people supporting the Guerrillas position and False Flag operations in order to stir up public opinion at home. This gang of thugs will stop at nothing! People are expendable - Better watch out Jeff Gannon/Gluckert! Now there's a story thats going to drive the Freepers into hysteria!