"THE NEWS WE KEPT TO OURSELVES"

CNN’s chief news executive finally admits what The New Republic reported last year–that CNN’s coverage of Saddam’s regime was a sham, and that CNN endangered local Iraqi employees simply to be able to put a “live from Baghdad” tag under their heavily censored and manipulated video feeds.

Contrast that to this statement from last year, when Iraq expelled foreign journalists:

Eason Jordan, CNN’s chief news executive, said the planned expulsion is “a draconian measure that will sharply curtail the world’s knowledge about what is happening in Iraq.” Jordan said CNN stands by Arraf and all of CNN’s Iraq reporting as “accurate, fair, and forthright.”

So how long will CNN continue to use their slogan of “Most Trusted News Network?”

UPDATE: Glenn Reynolds has a quote from Jordan last year on the New Republic article.

REALLY LATE UPDATE (3/31/04): The Times has moved Jordan’s op-ed behind their “buy this article if you want to read it” firewall, which is too bad, considering what a staggering mea culpa it is. Fortunately, it’s still online, in the middle of this page.

UPDATE (6/7/09): As of now, it’s visible again at the Times.