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.
Eason Jordan in Davos
It looks like the topic I threw up a quick post about yesterday is hitting the fan all over the place. Here’s a roundup:
Captain Ed weighs in here, and had more info yesterday.
If Jordan has evidence of this military practice, why hasn’t CNN r…
Trackback by Myopic Zeal — 02.03.05 @ 7:36 am
I’ll agree with MZ. If Jordan knows of such clear examples, why hasn’t his news company reported on it? His statement that someone is targeted because the soldier took aim and fired is BS, as well. If the soldiers/airmen/sailors/marines he’s accusing were targeting them, they would have known who they were.
Maybe he’s talking about the journalists that miracle of miracles, manage to be on the spot just in time to film a suicide bombing or IED attack. Maybe when the troops fire back, they clip a ‘journalist’ who’d riding in the getaway car with Johny Jihad…
It’s all specualtion. And it will stay that way in Jordan’s testicles drop and he fesses up on record.
Comment by SCSIwuzzy — 02.03.05 @ 8:57 am
A listing of journalists lost in Iraq.
Comment by SCSIwuzzy — 02.03.05 @ 9:08 am
I don’t see Daniel Pearl’s name on the list.
Comment by La Shawn — 02.03.05 @ 9:14 am
Only if one has a naieve view of war, can one make the kind of claims Jordan puts forth. Such thinking usually comes from a person with no combat experience. The idea that lines of combat are neatly drawn, the “good” and “bad” guys are well identified and fire is along parallel lines from opposing camps is archaic. That form of combat stopped with the (un)Civil War. War is messy. Especially in urban warfare, the enemy is difficult to identify and glimpsed, rather than seen. “The fog of war” is an apt description.
I find Jordan’s stubborn hold on the “should” of neat war, surprising. It would seem that a journalist must be a keen observer of the realities of the situation in which he participates and to learn from it, so that he is able to report accurately. Rather, it seems that Jordan is arguing that the situation “should” conform to his closely held bias and faults the American forces for not comforming.
I ask why his employers keep a journalist who is so self-deceived in the field? If the stock-in-trade of a news company is accurate reportage, CNN’s stock has plummetted.
Comment by Dan — 02.03.05 @ 9:38 am
Eason Jordan’s Trail Is Just Too Long
Forumblog’s post tonight should ask one more question: Why is Eason Jordan being given a pass for the past decade or so of suggesting that troops are targeting journalists?
Nothing he said at or since Davos can change Jordan’s well documented pas…
Trackback by The Baron — 02.03.05 @ 9:45 am
‘Blog swarms formed around Trent Lott and his disastrous birthday toast to Strom Thurmond,’
Did a whole lot of good to his career.
Comment by actus — 02.03.05 @ 9:52 am
Are Bloggers Journalists?
This is an Open Letter/Invitation to The Big Trunk at Powerline Blog and other bloggers for open dialogue on this topic.
(Welcome Barberians!)
An important court case is underway in California which may decide whether some bloggers ha…
Trackback by Pajama Hadin — 02.03.05 @ 9:59 am
Okay, so what Jordan really meant by “targeted” was “not collateral damage” and just a case of mistaken identity. I guess that’s a case of the military killing journalists accidentally on purpose; they targeted them on purpose mistakenly believing the journalists to be other than they were - the enemy, not friendlies.
But what about the following:
—————————-
Eason Jordan, chief news executive at CNN, said there had been only a “limited amount of progress”, despite repeated meetings between news organisations and the US authorities.
“Actions speak louder than words. The reality is that at least 10 journalists have been killed by the US military, and according to reports I believe to be true journalists have been arrested and tortured by US forces,” Mr Jordan told an audience of news executives at the News Xchange conference in Portugal.
——————
It’s hard to believe that this would be accidentally on purpose on the part of the military in this accusation by Jordan. By the time you get to arresting and/or torturing someone, you know whether you have a case of mistaken identity. As I have said in my post, he needs to stop with the semantic gymnastics. He ’s a veritable linguistic contortion artist.
AND WHERE IS THAT DAVOS TRANSCRIPT, CNN?!
Comment by PajamaHadin — 02.03.05 @ 9:59 am
Will someone tell Fox it is Eason Jordan, not Eathon Jordan? Other than that, props to Fox for being willing to report news other networks are running from…
Comment by The Baron — 02.03.05 @ 10:17 am
I didn’t even notice that before!
Comment by La Shawn — 02.03.05 @ 10:20 am
He should change his name to Ether Jordon because he sure sounds dazed and confused trying to explain himself right now.
Comment by ratso ferrari — 02.03.05 @ 11:12 am
‘I don’t see Daniel Pearl’s name on the list.’
Which list? A list of journo’s lost in Iraq? We wouldn’t expect him to be on there. He wasn’t in Iraq.
Comment by actus — 02.03.05 @ 11:21 am
Hugh Hewitt to MSM - ‘Let’s Go Outside!’
This AM, in his Daily Standard column, Hugh Hewitt virtually challenges the MSM (mainstream media) to “step outside” by highlighting two recent major media fumbles. The first is more of his reactions to CNN’s Eason Jordan’s “scandalous” claim tha…
Trackback by OKIE on the LAM - In LA — 02.03.05 @ 1:47 pm
Great work. It’s a sad commentary on the media’s comment to factual reporting.
Comment by MaxedOutMama — 02.03.05 @ 1:59 pm
Tried Halo and SimpleTracks to trackback, but have been unable to. Oh well.
I wonder if Eason sees that he is “collateral damage” of the blogosphere?
Comment by saintknowitall — 02.03.05 @ 4:08 pm
Weathering the Blog Storm
CNN’s Eason Jordan has made outrageous statements about the U. S. Military torturing or killing journalists depending on which statements you read. His latest remarks alleged that journalists that had been killed in Iraq were being targeted by the U. …
Trackback by Daddypundit — 02.03.05 @ 4:12 pm
La Shawn, your trackback doesn’t much care for Haloscan, but my thread can be found at the following:
http://confederateyankee.blogspot.com/2005/02/treason-at-cnn.html
Comment by Confederate Yankee — 02.03.05 @ 4:44 pm
Eason Jordan Update
UPDATE II: La Shawn Barber provides an extensive round up of developments in the story here and here.
Trackback by Stones Cry Out — 02.03.05 @ 6:04 pm
CNN: Where motley is worn
Trackback by Smoothingplane — 02.03.05 @ 6:59 pm
Trackback wasn’t working.
OK, then this should be the guy who has the video, or knows where it is.
Mark Adams
World Economic Forum
Head of media
Mark.Adams@WEForum.org
+41 22 869 1212
(Google Search)
I sent him an email requesting the video. Can’t hurt, right? And who knows, maybe if he gets lots of email and phone calls, that will become the story.
Comment by Sisyphus — 02.04.05 @ 7:11 am
Is Eason Jordan the New Dan Rather?
OK, then this should be the guy who has the video, or knows where it is.
Mark Adams
World Economic Forum
Head of media
Mark.Adams@WEForum.org
+41 22 869 1212
(Google Search)
I sent him an email requesting the video. C…
Trackback by Sisyphean Musings — 02.04.05 @ 7:13 am
LaShawn, having a backbone is not a “man” thing. You have more than Eason Jordan ever will. Backbone comes more from decency and honesty than bravery or testosterone and while it’s true he’s lacking all four, he’d probably fit the legal definition of “man”.
Comment by Bullwinkle — 02.04.05 @ 7:15 am
Eason Jordon WEF Video
Mark Adams, Head of media at the World Economic Forum, replied today to my email from yesterday.
First, big kudos to Mr. Adams for the quick response! Please pass the word that I’m working this with him so please do not flood him with requests.
…
Trackback by Sisyphean Musings — 02.04.05 @ 1:48 pm
CNNia Administrator sent this to me regarding Eason:
“Eason was attempting to speak out on an issue that is important to news organizations all over the world. Unfortunately, he was not clear enough in explaining his assertion. He was responding to an assertion that all 63 journalists killed in Iraq were “collateral damage.” While the majority of the 63 journalists killed in Iraq have been killed by insurgents, the Pentagon has acknowledged that the U.S. military on occasion has killed people who turned out to be journalists. Mr. Jordan emphatically does not believe that the U.S. Military intended to kill journalists and believes these accidents to be cases of “mistaken identity.”
Comment by Okie4Truth — 02.04.05 @ 3:04 pm
Slow-breaking news
The slowest-breaking news story of all time is still unfolding—and still hasn’t gotten any significant play in the MSM. I’m referring, of course, to the story that first appeared in Forumblog—the official blog dedicated to covering the World Eco…
Trackback by This isn’t writing, it’s typing. — 02.04.05 @ 10:43 pm
Thanks for the link to Carol Liebau and the SCOOP from Eason Jordan. What a disgrace this guy is!
Comment by STRIPES — 02.05.05 @ 2:14 am
Award winning depravity?
Would I would buy a used car from this man? That’s Eason Jordan, the guy whose World Economic Forum remarks (that U.S. troops targeted journalists in Iraq) have generated a feeding frenzy in the blogosphere. Not only were his remarks…
Trackback by Classical Values — 02.07.05 @ 3:36 pm
Well, we will soon be getting the signed Form 180 from John Kerry and permission from Eason Jordan to release the Davos tapes.
Freedom of information is wonderful.
Comment by STRIPES — 02.07.05 @ 5:03 pm
Eason Jordan knew MSM’s culture would protect him
…Eason Jordan knew that he could safely smear the U.S. military as he pleased because he was among MSM journalists. Put another way, Eason Jordan knew that a room full of journalists was an excellent risk if he felt like publicly smearing the U.S. …
Trackback by too much truth to swallow — 02.13.05 @ 11:10 am
Another case of the MSM strategy of Lie, then deny
Comment by Al Johnson — 02.14.05 @ 5:00 am