CNN's Jordan Resigns Over Iraq Remarks

Washington Post ^ | February 12, 2005 | Howard Kurtz

[Former Military Chick]

Eason Jordan resigned last night as CNN's chief news executive in an effort to quell a burgeoning controversy over his remarks about U.S. soldiers killing journalists in Iraq.

Even as he said he had misspoken at an international conference in suggesting that coalition troops had "targeted" a dozen journalists and insisted he never believed that, Jordan was being pounded hourly by bloggers, liberals as well as conservatives, who provided the rocket fuel for a story that otherwise might have fizzled.

Jordan, 44, said in a statement yesterday that he was quitting after 23 years at the network "to prevent CNN from being unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq. . . . I never meant to imply U.S. forces acted with ill intent when U.S. forces accidentally killed journalists, and I apologize to anyone who thought I said or believed otherwise."

No definitive account of what Jordan said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 27 has been made public, including the forum's videotape of the off-the-record session. Two Democrats who were there, Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (Conn.), criticized Jordan's remarks. Others in attendance, including U.S. News & World Report editor at large David Gergen and BBC executive Richard Sambrook, said Jordan had clarified his remarks.

New York University professor and blogger Jay Rosen said bloggers "made a lot of noise" about the Jordan flap. "But there was basic reporting going on -- finding the people who were there, getting them to make statements, comparing one account to another -- along with accusations and conspiracy thinking and the politics of paranoia and attacks on the MSM, or mainstream media."

[Former Military Chick]

Headline said that he apologized for these words.

Then you read the article and he says he was quitting after 23 years to prevent CNN from being unfairly tarnished. Excuse me, sounds like you are standing by your words.

In a wishy washy sort of way.

[xcamel]

Eleventeenth time this has been posted...

[camas]

first time i read it. went to an auction today

[Calusa]

How many times can you smack a liberal upside the head with a two-by-four before they say uncle?

[Wild Irish Rogue]

" As of yesterday, the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and USA Today had not carried a staff-written story,
and the CBS, NBC and ABC nightly news programs had not reported the matter. "

Well, Duh....

[bubman]

I love it. The blogosphere has declared war on liberal elitism. And we are winning every battle. Liberals fear one thing most: An intelligent arguement to their incessant whining!!

Congrats bloggers, keep up the good work.

[alienken]

How many times can you smack a liberal upside the head with a two-by-four before they say uncle? ..... As many times as it takes, and then some.

[visualops]

The typical liberal non-apology apology. Yuck.

[Adrastus]

"Imply?" God above, sir. No one could ever accuse you of such a thing. No. You plainly said it.

This is typical newsie crap. Say whatever you want but when called on it, well, that's the readers fault for "misunderstanding." And they have the gall to wonder why the have little or no credibility.

[JesseJane]

CNN News Chief Quits Over Iraq Remarks (Islam Online's take, Al-Barf Alert)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1341885/posts

Lamis Awad, a Tunisian journalist who attended the event, said Jordan criticized the US forces for targeting reporters working for Al-Jazeera news channel in particular.

[Buzwardo]

It's interesting that Kurtz finally owned up to his affiliation with CNN with an italicized line at the bottom of the story. Seems like potential conflicts of interest are only noteworthy when they have a conservative connection.