The Eason Jordan Repository

A repository is place where you put things for safe-keeping, but I prefer the fourth definition of the word: a burial vault or a tomb. That’s what you should consider this post. Eason Jordan’s burial vault. It will contain links, analysis and a chronology of how Jordan buried his career. To catch up on the developments, read the first post.

I didn’t want “burial vault” in the title because I don’t want people to think I’m trying to kill him. The story is still developing because Jordan’s statement, a semantical gymnastics routine, is laughable. Read it on Carol Liebau’s blog:

To be clear, I do not believe the U.S. military is trying to kill journalists in Iraq. I said so during the forum panel discussion. But, nonetheless, the U.S. military has killed several journalists in Iraq in cases of mistaken identity. The reason the word “targeted” came up at all is because I was responding to a comment by Congressman Franks, who said he believed the 63 journalists killed in Iraq were the victims of “collateral damage.” Since three of my CNN colleagues and many other journalists have been killed on purpose in Iraq, I disputed the “collateral damage” statement, saying, unfortunately, many journalists — not all — killed in Iraq were indeed targeted. When someone aims a gun at someone and pulls the trigger and then learns later the person fired at was actually a journalist, an apology is appropriate and is accepted, and I believe those apologies to be genuine. But such a killing is a tragic case of mistaken identity, not a case of “collateral damage.” That is the distinction I was trying to make even if I did not make it clearly at the time. Further, I have worked closely with the U.S. military for months in an effort to achieve a mutual goal: keeping journalists in Iraq safe and alive.

I remind you of what Rony Abovitz said he heard: “Eason Jordan asserted that he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted. He repeated the assertion a few times, which seemed to win favor in parts of the audience (the anti-US crowd) and cause great strain on others.”

I’m so tired of weak-kneed and jelly-spined men, it’s not even funny anymore. Say what you mean and mean what you say, and stop backpedaling! I’d have more respect for Jordan if he admitted that although he said Americans were targeting and killing journalists, he said so out of frustration with the war or the death of his journalist friends. Be a man and tell the truth. Good grief.

As a liberal journalist, Jordan clearly hates the war and doesn’t feel too kindly toward George Bush. The world hates America, if you believe mainstream media. Jordan and other journalists have said these things before but were never called on it. That was before the blog swarm.

In BLOG: Understanding the Information Reformation That’s Changing Your World, Hewitt writes: “When many blogs pick up a theme and begin to pursue a story, a blog swarm forms. A blog swarm is an early indicator of an opinion storm brewing. which, when it breaks, will fundamentally alter the general public’s understanding of a person, place, product, or phenomenon.”

Blog swarms formed around Trent Lott and his disastrous birthday toast to Strom Thurmond, the New York Times and their plagiarizing affirmation action baby named Jayson Blair, John Kerry’s lies about being in Cambodia on Christmas Eve in 1968, the Swift Board veterans’ account of the real John Kerry, and Rathergate, where CBS tried to pass off forged memos for the purpose of damaging a sitting president.

As Hewitt notes in BLOG, newspaper circulation, CNN and the networks’ readership is falling; the blogosphere, FOX News and talk radio is riding. Jordan will not be able to hide, and CNN will not be able to remain silent on this for much longer. CNN is trying to bury the lead on this.

I highly recommend Hewitt’s book. I quote and reference Hewitt a lot, and many of you are probably asking, “Why?” Good question. Read the book, and I think you’ll answer your own question. Whether or not you have a blog, if you’ve been reading this one regularly, you’ve also been caught up in the swarm.

One final thought about blogs, the new media. Hewitt writes: “The old information monopoly had an enormous ability to decide where and when news would be ‘news.’ That gatekeeping function is gone, and blogs have rushed in to decide for themselves what matters. The episodes detailed earlier were the first few rounds of conflict between MSM and bloggers.”

I, blogger, have decided that an American journalist accusing the military of his own country of murdering journalists is NEWS. This post will be updated throughout the day with links from bloggers and MSM. If you’re blogging about Eason Jordan or related matters, trackback to this post and I’ll include your link.

Myopic Zeal, The Baron, Pajamahadin, Rathergate.com, Dr. John Mark Reynolds, Roger Simon, Slant Point, OKIE on the LAM, Daddypundit, Stones Cry Out, Smoothing Plane…

Captain Ed notes that MSM has yet to report on this story (and here). Rony Abovitz (”gound zero”) makes another statement. SCSIwuzzy offers a link to list of journalists killed in Iraq.

Update: FOX News web site mentions Eason Jordan:

And CNN’s top news executive Ethan Jordan (search) has found himself called to account by none other than Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Barney Frank (search). This after Jordan seemed to suggest that the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week, that American troops were deliberating targeting and killing foreign journalists in Iraq, including Western journalists.

It’s not much, but at least it’s something. But notice that FOX refers to him at “Ethan.”

Rebecca MacKinnon, the blogger/journalist who confirmed Abovitz’s version of events, writes: “The right wing bloggers have been very vocal on this story. The left and middle have been largely silent. We have yet to hear much from journalists working on the ground in Iraq. I heard back from my friend Brian Palmer who wrote…”

Update II: Power Line is on the trail. Abovitz notes the existence of a videotape of the conference where Jordan Eason made his infamous remarks:

This particular discussion at the WEF 2005 was videotaped (hopefully it is in a complete and unedited form). The debate about exactly what was said is easily resolved if an accurate transcript of the tape, or the tape itself, can be produced and made public. This kind of transparency lends itself well to global issues where subjectivity can taint any side of a topic like this. It is possible in this case that the subjectivity on one part of this issue can be removed entirely (with the complete videotape and transcript of the discussion).

Yes, let’s go to the videotape. Rather than parsing bits and pieces of who said what and how, we can hear and watch it for ourselves. I suspect that Abovitz’s version will hold up. Eason’s verbal gyration of an explanation will be seen for what it is: a man caught in a web of his own making, desperately trying to escape. But it’s the struggle that keeps you trapped.

Update II (8:25 p.m.): Slow Eason Jordan news day today, but writer and blogger Austin Bay shares his thoughts:

There are many reasons for CNN to make a full, complete disclosure, and they go beyond mere clarity of expression. I think this is the biggest: If Jordan did say he believes the US military “targeted” journalists (implying physical targeting) then we need to hear his evidence — premeditated murder is more than political scandal, it’s crime. This would be a bigger crime than Abu Ghraib.

There’s a second reason: CNN has a corporate skeleton rattling in its closet, and the skeleton involves Jordan. It also involves a deal with a local ruling class — in this case, Saddam Hussein and his pals.

This is no allegation. Jordan wrote an essay for the NY Times admitting his network regularly withheld information about Saddam’s evil regime — because that’s what it took to keep the bureau open. (Here’s a link to the abstract of Jordans’ The News We Kept to Ourselves which ran in the NY Times on April 11, 2003. The abstract doesn’t do justice to the depravity of Jordan’s op-ed.)

Serious stuff.

Update (2/4): This post will not be updated. For the latest developments, please see the The Eason Jordan Repository II. For background, see the original post.