As I wrote this morning the Eason Jordan matter hasn’t interested me. Until now, that is. Michelle Malkin reports:
David Gergen, who moderated the Davos panel on which CNN exec Eason Jordan appeared, spoke with me by phone this afternoon about the controversy.
First, Gergen confirmed that Eason Jordan did in fact initially assert that journalists in Iraq had been targeted by military “on both sides.” Gergen, who has known Jordan for some 20 years, told me Jordan “realized as soon as the words had left his mouth that he had gone too far” and “walked himself back.” Gergen said as soon as he heard the assertion that journalists had been deliberately targeted, “I was startled. It’s contrary to history, which is so far the other way. Our troops have gone out of their way to protect and rescue journalists.”
Walking himself back is nowhere nearly enough. A quick look at the Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists reveals this:
Journalists should:
* Test the accuracy of information from all sources and exercise care to avoid inadvertent error. Deliberate distortion is never permissible.
and
* Admit mistakes and correct them promptly.
Clearly Mr. Jordan had the opportunity to retract his statement clearly and unambiguously. There’s no indication that he’s done it. That gives the appearance of moving this matter from the realm of “inadvertent error” to “deliberate distortion”.
Michelle continues:
Gergen mentioned that Jordan had just returned from Iraq and was “caught up in the tension of what was happening there. It’s a raw, emotional wound for him.”
Not only is that in no way exculpatory it suggests that there may be actual malice involved.
The basic facts of the story have now been confirmed by David Gergen, a Democratic representative (Barney Franks of Massachusetts), and a Democratic Senator (Chris Dodd of Connecticut). Where are the mainstream media on this? Where is the Society of Professional Journalists on this? Be vewy, vewy quiet.
UPDATE: Just to clarify my position, until yesterday’s revelations I thought it was possible that the Eason Jordan story was being blown out of proportion and what was going on was a right-wing bloggers’ feeding frenzy. There is no way that either Chris Dodd or Barney Franks can by any stretch of the imagination be considered right-wing and their comments make it clear that Jordan had stepped beyond the bounds. As the head of one of the major news outlets, Jordan’s statements are now evidence of a serious ethical lapse to advance an ideological position and the failure to take it seriously would itself be an ideological stand at this point.
