Gergen on Jordan
The Eason Jordan story is an international story to most of us, but it is a local story to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, where Jordan climbed the corporate ladder. Its piece (here) has several items I haven't seen earlier. Not in the online version but available to Nexis subscribers is this:
With Jordan's fall from grace almost entirely due to blog-pressure, Gergens first point is worthy of more consideration. It's fair to ask whether bloggers smelled blood and unfairly targeted the CNN exec. I don't think so, because CNN had plenty of exposure to weaken it, and the network's stonewalling kept the heat on. If it was a story the MSN wanted to pursue -- and of course it wasn't -- they would have pursued it with the same vigor the bloggers did.
But as the the power of the blogs becomes even more undeniable, we need to realize that with power comes vulnerability. We're luckly the blogosphere's leaders are smart and reputable men and women ... but anything as vast, unregulated and new as the blogosphere there's a chance some bozo will do something that hurts us all.
David Gergen, a well-known political observer and former White House adviser who moderated the Davos discussion, said he thinks Jordan was unfairly targeted by bloggers who dislike CNN and "saw blood in the water."Gergen has it wrong on the last point. It wasn't a single remark, but a series of unsubstantiated remarks and the admission of ignoring Saddam Hussein's atrocities in the name of access. And he didn't quickly walk back from his statement; he could have done that by authorizing the release of the tape and saying he was wrong, or by offering proof to verify his statement (which is nonexistent, since even the two agencies representing foreign journalists have no such claims on their Web sites).
Gergen said Jordan immediately sought to clarify that he wasn't accusing U.S. troops of misdeeds.
"It's terribly sad and distressing that a man who served admirably in journalism over 20 years falls on a single remark that he quickly walks back," Gergen said.
With Jordan's fall from grace almost entirely due to blog-pressure, Gergens first point is worthy of more consideration. It's fair to ask whether bloggers smelled blood and unfairly targeted the CNN exec. I don't think so, because CNN had plenty of exposure to weaken it, and the network's stonewalling kept the heat on. If it was a story the MSN wanted to pursue -- and of course it wasn't -- they would have pursued it with the same vigor the bloggers did.
But as the the power of the blogs becomes even more undeniable, we need to realize that with power comes vulnerability. We're luckly the blogosphere's leaders are smart and reputable men and women ... but anything as vast, unregulated and new as the blogosphere there's a chance some bozo will do something that hurts us all.
posted by Laer at 5:59 PM
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