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February 14, 2005

A Tempest, but not in a Teacup

The media has accepted the resignation of Eason Jordan without question, and has portrayed the pursuit of the truth by bloggers as a lynch mob with a political agenda. David Bauder's Associated Press account unquestioningly accepts Eason Jordan's statement that he "quickly backed off the remarks". Several in attendance have stated otherwise.

The facts, many of which the media are wholly ignoring, should be remembered before Mr. Jordan's statements are accepted without criticism.

· Eason Jordan has a history of accusing American soldiers of killing and torturing journalists without providing evidence.
· Every eyewitness on record from the Davos conference, including a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator, confirmed that Eason Jordan did in fact state journalists were intentionally targeted by the U.S. military.
· Eason Jordan did not provide any evidence to support his charges, and has not to this day.
· The disagreements between eyewitnesses are: Mr. Jordan's meaning behind "targeting"; and at what point he backed off the statements - did he do so on his own or after pressured.
· Multiple Eyewitnesses, including Senator Chris Dodd, stated he did not back off his slanderous remarks until Congressman Frank pressed the issue.
· To this day Eason Jordan has not demanded the release of the tape, despite his influence at the WEF as well as CNN's unique and powerful presence in the international media community.
· A tape still exists and can easily confirm the reported eyewitness accounts.
· CNN and the traditional media have not sought the tape to clarify what actually happened at Davos.

Where are the guardians of the truth? Make no mistake, if there were evidence that existed that could bring down an important and powerful politician, there would be reporters tripping all over each other, nay elbows flying, to be the first to get their hands on it. The repeated calls for the truth, the screams for blood, would haunt the airwaves and front pages of news and editorial pages across the land. When a prince of the media is purported to have slandered American troops without cause, the guardians of the truth impugn bloggers as pursuing a witch-hunt.

I am of the belief that the content of this tape is even worse than expected. The accounts of Mr. Jordan's reactions are likely to be correct; but the damning information may be the reaction of the audience. If the audience reaction is as anti-American as Davos attendee Rony Abovitz described, the American public may be quite upset indeed with Eason Jordan, and by default, CNN for knowingly employing a person that recklessly encourages such anti-American sentiment. The international media's biases poke though in written news articles, but such an open display, on videotape, may even shock many Americans not inclined to support the war in Iraq. Of course all of this is conjecture, we cannot know for sure unless the tape is released.

The American people have a right to know the truth about those who manage influential and powerful media entities. These men and women exercise the power to shape and control the news and public perception. Companies that advertise on these news services should also be concerned with who they sponsor. Are you comfortable patronizing outlets that sanction employees who knowingly assault the honor of our brave servicemen?

The tape must be released to shed light on what really happened in Davos. Powerful news organizations are either indifferent or hostile to taking up this cause, and have directed their contempt towards bloggers. Perhaps it is time for the people, and bloggers, to do demand the release of the tape.

The tempest still rages.

Posted by: rogg | Permalink | TrackBack (0)

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