# "The News We Kept to Ourselves" - Frightening confessions of CNN reporter re Iraq **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 11, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029 "2003-04-11T13:42:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![I\_Know\_Lots](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@I\_Know\_Lots](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Know_Lots)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/41 "2003-04-12T18:52:21Z")
Well, if I were some martial arts guy, skilled in restraining people without hurting them, but I still beat him up anyway: tough. If I got angry because of what I saw him doing and vented my rage on him, the court may or may not let me off for that. I believe one should be let off because the real villain of the piece is the would-be abductor and not the bystander with the guts to intervene. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/42 "2003-04-12T20:53:12Z")
But if you had been thinking clearly, not in a state of rage, you would have restrained him peacefully, right? I mean, you’re not a vigilante. So you think it’s okay for someone to get off for something they did because they were enraged at the time? ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/43 "2003-04-12T22:21:53Z")
Yea, 12 years coming, damn us for acting so rashly! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/44 "2003-04-12T22:34:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Angel of the Lord \* > \*\*I highly doubt that our disgust over Iraqi human rights violations was the motivating factor in this war. Maybe I’m cynical. \*\* Prseident Bush and Colin Powell made it clear many, many times. That were _several_ reasons why the U.S. believed it was necessary to take military action against the Sadam Hussein regime, not one motivating factor. If you want to hear those reasons again, I refer you to President Bush’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly last year. The gist is, there are many tyrannical, oppressive regimes in the world. But only a handful are engaged in creating weapons of mass destruction, and have a history of making war on their neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/45 "2003-04-13T00:02:25Z")
> [@](#): > > I have yet to see an anti-war protestor/ peace advocate say that Saddam should not be removed or that he was/is not evil. I certainly have. I’ve seen a woman wave her sign at the tv camera and shout, “There is no excuse for violence!” ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/46 "2003-04-13T00:38:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DMark \* > **The analogy of nuclear waste is yet another thorn in my side, considering I live in Nevada and all that crap is coming here despite the fact that nobody, not even the Republicans in Nevada, wants it here.** Maybe y’all should build yourself some CANDU reactors. Those things can **run** on waste-grade nuclear fuel, and generate electricity in the process. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/47 "2003-04-13T01:54:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > I certainly have. I’ve seen a woman wave her sign at the tv camera and shout, “There is no excuse for violence!” I’m not sure I get your point. What did her sign say? ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/48 "2003-04-13T02:48:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*Weirddave \*\*\* > Yea, 12 years coming, damn us for acting so rashly! So why was it so important that we act without proof? Without making a plausible case either to the American public or to the international community? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/49 "2003-04-13T04:49:43Z")
> [@](#): > > These people want to reshape the entire political landscape of the Middle East and the nature of the government of Iraq provided a very convenient issue to exploit. The last time the US tried to reshape political landscapes like this was in the late 1940’s in Germany and Japan. And you know what? It worked. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/50 "2003-04-13T15:12:05Z")
This entire thread seems to have been hijacked into a pro/anti-war discussion, and that’s not what should be discussed here, IMHO. Rather, the article should be discussed, and its implications. Since this is **Great Debates,** we should all have our critical thinking caps on and discuss it on those grounds. That said: Personally, I believe the article indicates a significant problem with CNN. Primarily, that _CNN cannot be trusted to broadcast the truth._ Whatever anyone else has said about Fox News and their perceived hyperbole, etc., it doesn’t appear that Fox News (or other news organizations, at the moment) is guilty of deliberately suppressing _life-saving_ information, which is exactly what CNN is guilty of, in this instance. I, for one, find it fascinating that CNN (and Eason Jordan, in particular) chose profiteering over human life. This, in my opinion, makes Eason Jordan more despicable than any Enron executive - at least Enron was not indirectly responsible for the murders of multiple citizens. (Some will want to include suicides of Enron employees, executives and stock holders, but that is different and a disengenuous argument.) CNN, by maintaining its silence on the attrocities it knew were being perpetrated, is an accessory to the crime. Just my $0.02. - Dirk ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/51 "2003-04-13T15:29:09Z")
Dirk, I agree with you that we’d be better off returning this thread to the issues of the OP. But I disagree with your opinion that CNN’s actions, as reported, are a case of choosing “profiteering over human life”. In fact, I’d say it was the very opposite. The writer describes cases where he did not publish stories he had because doing so would have endangered the lives of Iraqis. The one possible exception was the case of the two brothers-in-law in Jordan, where he obtained information that they would be killed if they returned to Iraq. The reporter says if he published the story, people in Iraq would have been killed for passing it on to him. So he chose not to publish but gave the information directly to the Jordanian government (which chose to ignore it). A difficult ethical dilemma as described, but one I feel the reporter handled as well as could be done. ---
**Author:** ![DirkGntly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DirkGntly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DirkGntly)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/52 "2003-04-13T15:41:35Z")
\*\* Nemo,\*\* I concede your point on a case-by-case basis, but I believe that CNN, on the whole, is culpable in this instance. Not because of one or two particular incidents, but in the bigger picture. If CNN had pulled its reporters and its office in Baghdad once it was aware of the atrocities, and reported them at that time, hundreds, if not thousands, of Iraqi citizens would have been spared their fates. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/53 "2003-04-14T20:44:42Z")
The Wall Street Journal weighs in with this editorial, which is highly critical of CNN’s policy, its news bureau chief, Eason Jordan, and reporter Jane Arraf, in [“Access of Evil”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=3276889#post3276889). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/54 "2003-04-14T20:56:47Z")
Oops, wrong link! :smack: [“Access of Evil”](http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110003336) ---
**Author:** ![Beagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@Beagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beagle)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/55 "2003-04-14T21:10:23Z")
If CNN had pulled out of Iraq and focused their investigative reporters on the brutal regime, two things might have happened. One, CNN might still be #1. Two, I might consider them to be a better source of information than Tariq Aziz, which I don’t. I think two (on a large scale, see also, Castro, F.) is what led to one. Sad that Fox really is more fair and balanced, as unfair and unbalanced as they are. ---
**Author:** ![scm1001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@scm1001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scm1001)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/56 "2003-04-16T21:31:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Little Nemo \* > \*\*The last time the US tried to reshape political landscapes like this was in the late 1940’s in Germany and Japan. And you know what? It worked. \*\* actually it was vietnam, no chile, um cuba, el salvadore, lebanon, …? ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/57 "2003-04-16T22:41:21Z")
Believe it or not, not everything that is told to a journalist is permitted by the source to be broadcast to the entire world. If Mr. Jordan had reported those stories against the wishes of his sources, he would have committed a serious breach of professional ethics. A journalist can and should consider the effect of his story on the people involved when deciding whether to report it. In the instances described in the NYT story, it is inescapable that reporting those stories would have resulted in Very Bad Things Indeed happening to the sources and subjects. Thus, it was certainly moral to refrain from reporting them while that danger existed. The next point is one that has been ignored by the CNN-bashers in this thread. That is, what did CNN actually report about Saddam Hussein’s regime at the time? Sure, those specific stories–anecdotes and unsubstantiated rumors, really–did not make the air. Does this mean that CNN was ignoring the brutality of the regime, or portraying Saddam as a big ol’ softy who was beloved by his people? The answer is no. In fact, the answer is hell no. [This story](http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9810/08/iraq.defector/index.html) and [this one](http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9810/02/iraqi.defector/index.html) tell the story of Udai Hussein’s former secretary, who was quite epecific about the regime’s brutality. The network reported on [mass executions of political prisoners](http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9801/01/iraq.executions/index.html), [war crimes and human rights abuses in Kuwait](http://www.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/08/02/kuwait.iraq/index.html), and [general human rights violations](http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/meast/9911/03/mideast.un.iraq/index.html). If anyone has evidence that other mainstream news organizations reported stories in circumstances similar to those described by Mr. Jordan in his NYT article–thereby endangering the lives of sources, subjects, and employees–I would be happy to reconsider my conclusion. Otherwise, I ain’t buying the ridiculous displays of indignation in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![ElJeffe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/958977/32.png) [@ElJeffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElJeffe)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2003, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/58 "2003-04-16T23:10:32Z")
**minty** , there are a couple of things that really bother me about this situation. First, CNN (by way of Sr. Jordan) allowed itself to be Saddam’s toady. It reported what Saddam wanted reported, if not in all cases, then in enough to be offensive. The ethical thing to do, once it was discovered that bad things were going to happen to good people if CNN were to stay in, would be to simply pull out of Baghdad. Tell the public the situation in general terms, so as not to endanger lives, and then head on out. That would send the message that CNN was nobody’s lapdog, as well as informing the public that nasty things were afoot in Iraq. Secondly, it wasn’t just that CNN was concealing information. It was that CNN became highly indignant whenever someone dared _suggest_ that they were concealing information. It was hypocricy, plain and simple. And, has been mentioned, it brings into doubt every story coming out of every dictatorial regime that CNN chooses to cover. We now know that an exclusive story is more important to CNN then putting out The Truth, and more important than any lives that may be at stake - even if that story is just the regime’s propoganda du jour. Refer to my indignation as ridiculous if you please, but I find that CNN’s behavior wasn’t due to compliance with some Holy Coda of Journalism, that in fact, it was in stark defiance of it. And if what they did _is_ what the Coda dictates, then I guess I find some things a little more important than journalistic ethics. Jeff ---
**Author:** ![dee52269](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@dee52269](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dee52269)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/59 "2003-04-17T00:09:13Z")
Okay, CNN deliberately did not report something they say they felt would endanger the lives of innocent sources. Even if we all agree to that statement it is still not the legal responsibility of a news organization to report the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. If you don’t believe me ask Fox News. When Fox fired journalist Jane Akre for refusing to lie she sued them. Fox declared there was no law against deliberately distorting the news and a Florida Appeals court agreed. Which is worse, failing to report an incident or deliberately distorting the facts to fit the bias of the network? The text of the ruling is available here (pdf): [http://www.2dca.org/opinion/February%2014,%202003/2D01-529.pdf](http://www.2dca.org/opinion/February%2014,%202003/2D01-529.pdf). I originally read the story here: [http://www.sierratimes.com/03/02/28/arpubmg022803.htm](http://www.sierratimes.com/03/02/28/arpubmg022803.htm) ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029/60 "2003-04-17T00:50:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ElJeffe \* > CNN (by way of Sr. Jordan) allowed itself to be Saddam’s toady. It reported what Saddam wanted reported, if not in all cases, then in enough to be offensive. Big fat deal. CNN also reported what the U.S. government wanted to be reported, if not in all instances, then in a hell of a lot. That’s what journalists do–they tell you what the newsmakers are saying and doing, then they report the rest of the story. What, like Fox News never reported on anti-American rallies in Baghdad, never reported what Saddam and his cronies were saying? Nonsense. CNN covered both the Iraqi government’s perspective _and_ the abuses of the regime. > [@](#): > > The ethical thing to do, once it was discovered that bad things were going to happen to good people if CNN were to stay in, would be to simply pull out of Baghdad. And what would that accomplish? Is the public good served by having Al Jazeera as the only network broadcasting from Iraq, the subject of much of the world’s most important news for the last 25 years? Nonsense. It was just as proper and appropriate to have journalists in Baghdad as it was to have journalists in Moscow during the Cold War–and I remember a _lot_ of broadcasts from Red Square reporting on the Soviet take on things, military parades, anti-American rallies, etc. > [@](#): > > That would send the message that CNN was nobody’s lapdog, as well as informing the public that nasty things were afoot in Iraq. This depends on the false assertion that people didn’t know nasty things were afoot in Iraq. I assure you, everyone and their lapdog has known since at least 1990 that Saddam is a really, really evil sonofabitch. CNN was even reporting on it, as those links above demonstrate. > [@](#): > > Secondly, it wasn’t just that CNN was concealing information. It was that CNN became highly indignant whenever someone dared _suggest_ that they were concealing information. It was hypocricy, plain and simple. I assume you’re referring to the WSJ editorial linked above? If so, you’re misrepresenting it. Mr. Jordan did not get indignant at the suggestion “that they were concealing information.” The relevant excerpt is this one: > [@](#): > > \*While I researched a story on CNN’s Iraq coverage for the New Republic last October, Mr. Jordan told me flatly that his network gave “a full picture of the regime.” In our conversation, he challenged me to find instances of CNN neglecting stories about Saddam’s horrors. \* So, please find instances of CNN neglecting stories about Saddam’s horrors. The country was a fucking madhouse for 25 years, with people getting tortured and killed in enormous numners. Declining to publicize a handful of specific stories of torture and death threats because doing so would likely result in death and torture for the subjects/sources/journalists hardly qualifies as “neglecting stories about Saddam’s horrors,” _particularly_ when they were running other, equally appalling stories about the brutality of the regime. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-news-we-kept-to-ourselves-frightening-confessions-of-cnn-reporter-re-iraq/168029.md?page=4)