Bloggers foil top CNN Exec

In the age of blogs, there is no “off the record.” Just ask former CNN news chief Eason Jordan.

Jordan resigned Feb. 11 amid a debate over controversial remarks he made at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland. He allegedly suggested that journalists killed by coalition forces might not have been killed on accident. The forum supposedly was off the record.

But bloggers quickly picked up on Jordan’s comments. Rony Abovitz, co-founder of the technology company Z-Kat, started the debate by posting Jordan’s remarks on the World Economic Forum’s own website. Abovitz noted on the site that Jordan, when challenged, attempted to modify his statement.

Other bloggers read Abovitz’s post, and soon a movement was afoot demanding that a videotape of the event be made public. Other blogs called for Jordan’s resignation. A website called Easongate.com was quickly created, dedicating itself to providing analysis and commentary on Eason’s statement’s.

The story then shifted from the blogsphere to mainstream media. Wall Street Journal editorial page board member Bret Stephens was at the forum and recounted Jordan’s comments in an op-ed piece. Jordan, according to Stephens, said he didn’t believe the Bush administration had a policy of targeting journalists, but that “there are people who believe there are people in the military who have it out for journalists.”

In the wake of the controversy, Jordan agreed to only one interview, with The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz. Kurtz’s piece was promptly criticized by Slate.com blogger Mickey Kaus.

Kaus pointed out that Kurtz may not have been the most appropriate person to write about Jordan and CNN, seeing as how Kurtz is the host of the cable news channel’s Sunday talk show, “Reliable Sources” - and Jordan was, until Friday, Kurtz’s boss.

Though Kurtz’s article made mention of his employment at CNN in the last sentence, the article, according to Kaus, was pro-Jordan, “magnifying Jordan’s defense, minimizing his critics and giving him the last word.”

This isn’t the first time Kurtz has been accused of running to the defense of his boss at CNN. In April 2003, Kurtz covered Jordan’s acknowledgement that he suppressed stories of Iraqi brutality for years - out of concern for people’s safety, especially Iraqis working for CNN.

- Coley Ward