Blogosphere targets journalist

Posted by Evan on February 8, 2005 @ 8:29AM

Well if the military isn't targeting journalists, the right wing blogosphere certainly is. And they scored another hit today as their latest pet project went mainstream. Ever since CNN's Exec. news chief, Eason Jordan made some controversial and sloppy remarks in Switzerland last month, right wing bloggers have been frothing.

Since nobody can provide a transcript (instant controversy!) it comes down to the notoriously inaccurate record of human memory.

From the accounts of those present, it appears that Jordan's remarks surrounded the deaths of journalists in Iraq and a clumsy attempt to distinguish between "collateral damage" and these deaths. That distinction is presumably to call into question either the deliberate targeting of journalists (which right wingnuts favor) or how much care the military has given to the issue (which Jordan says is what he meant and what two journalists who were present impute as well).

Right wingers are more than happy to charge that Jordan is maligning the fine young men and women of the military. Jordan, as the head of CNN's news operation (and a past recipient of the right wing's hairy eye) is one of the symbols of their nonexistent bugaboo, the liberal media. Since apparently nobody can even conceive of a criticism that isn't a blanket condemnation, this possiblity hasn't been considered.

Since the charges, Jordan has backed off and apologized for his lack of clarity. Thing is, however shocking it may be to those whose only "news" is Fox and Free Republic, this isn't the first time this allegation has been made. Not by a long shot. And we're not talking about some sparks in the lefty blogosphere.

Allegations that the coalition has made some controversial decisions with regard to the lives of journalists have been made by the Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, Reuters, al-Jazeera, and BBC. In fact, before the war, as Danny Schechter's new film, "Weapons of Mass Deception," reports, the BBC's Kate Adey claims that the Pentagon warned her that independent journalists could be targeted.

And if that doesn't chill the bones, consider that over the entire protracted history of the Vietnam conflict, around 63 journalists were killed. Less than two years into Iraq and that number has been surpassed. It doesn't mean that the American military is targeting journalists but the apparent lack of concern in investigating incidents does become that much more troubling.

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