If it wasn't for Double Standards, CNN Would Have None at All

Brent Bozell writes:

The President’s secret meetings with Fareed Zakaria – the same reporter who openly used a CNN network broadcast to promote Obama in 2008 – show a clear and disturbing double standard at CNN.

For decades, the liberal media have repeatedly condemned conservatives in the media who communicated privately with Republican presidents. They furiously attacked George Will in 1980 when he advised candidate Ronald Reagan, and trounced on Roger Ailes when he sent President Bush a note about the new war on terror in the wake of September 11th.  Neither of them was a reporter.

Zakaria is a reporter – or says so.  To now claim that Zakaria’s covert meetings do not conflict with his journalistic integrity is not only inaccurate, it’s hypocritical by CNN’s standards. As such, Zakaria must recuse himself immediately from covering foreign policy that affects the United States. A refusal to extricate himself is in clear violation of CNN’s journalistic principles.

Wait, when did CNN start having journalistic principles?

When the Iraq war began, Eason Jordan, CNN’s then-head honcho admitted that the network had long been in bed with Saddam Hussein. When Barack Obama was running for president in 2008, the network was more than happy to clear a path for him, producing this legendary flip-flop:

[flashvideo file=http://pjmedia.com/media/video/CNN-Wright-to-Wright-Free-Zone6-7-09-rev-1.flv width=315 height=251 image=http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/files/2009/06/cnn-wright-to-wright-free-zone6-7-09-title-cardiii.jpg /]

A year into his presidency, the network presented on-air a cake in his honor:

As Victor Davis Hanson wrote shortly before the president was elected, “Sometime in 2008, journalism as we knew it died, and advocacy media took its place.” This isn’t entirely new of course — Don Hewitt of CBS was more than happy to aid JFK in the first televised presidential debate of 1960 — but then, nobody bought into CNN’s “most trusted name in news” slogan anyhow.

More from Ace, who quips, “Gee, no wonder Zakaria thinks that every move of Obama’s is brilliant. Obama’s got him thinking he’s implementing the Zakaria Agenda for Success. Of course Zakaria approves of Zakaria.”