Posted from the U.S
I am reflecting tonight on the current output of Easongate, and if any of this matters. Is any good coming out of this, and what could be a positive outcome that has the result of fixing the world?
So far it has generated a lot of blogging and internet activity, newspaper articles, radio show bits, and even television appearences. Eason Jordan is in some hot water, as is CNN. There is a lot of mudslinging, angry words, and calls for various forms of justice. There is also a lot of media spin going on, with lots of people getting caught in the muck.
A host of people have it out for Eason Jordan, and I wanted to comment on this aspect of Easongate. It is easy to abstract Eason Jordan as an evil media figure, especially for people who only know him as a face on the screen, or a name in the paper. But I actually met the guy, and all of this works a bit different for me.
When you meet someone in the flesh, and can look them in the eye and see that they are human, it is harder to simply call out for their head, as many are doing. I am pushing very hard for accountability, transparency, a sense of fairness and ethics, and continue to challenge him, CNN, and others involved in his protective spin to simply get the unedited videotape out there asap and have him face his own words.
When you meet someone and see them as a fellow human being, you want to believe that they can rise up to their full potential and become something extraordinary. If CNN fires him, and makes an example of him, is the problem really solved? Did Eason invent the concepts of corporate media, shaping the news, pandering to regional audiences, and half-baking stories so that your target markets are primed to hear? There is a deeper problem here, and I am not sure that it all goes away if Eason does.
To me, a successful outcome of Easongate could be a transformation of Eason Jordan himself, of CNN, and perhaps the media in general (a lot to ask for). The words expressed in Davos about accountability, transparency, ethics, being fair, improving the state of the world - are these just words or can they be translated into actions?
"Taking Responsibility For Tough Choices" was the theme of the meeting - it surely applies here. I am holding out a bit longer on what may be an unpopular position, but it is one based on the following:
- Eason Jordan should personally lobby for, and release the videotape of the session where Easongate began.
- CNN should play the video in its unedited format, for all to see, as well as give copies to any other media outlet who wants it.
- Eason, in a way unobstructed by spin, can face his own words and deal with the consequences head on.
- There will be fury about what he said, but the speculation will end. For those of us who were there, we know that what is on the tape does not bode well for him but it should not stop him from releasing it.
- Admit fully any mistakes.
The challenge for Eason is how to both have real integrity on this issue and keep his job. The more spinning and denials, the harder this becomes. Many will say its beyond repair at this point. It would take a fairly radical transformation and reformation to do both, but I believe that it could be possible - very hard, but possible. He could, if he wanted to, lead CNN, and possibly the rest of the mainstream media (by example), into a new era. The globally connected packs of bloggers are an underground force for change, but mainstream media needs to respond to this new pressure. It is possible to only report news that has verifiable facts and data, and it is possible to stop treating the news as a corporate product designed for regional target markets. It is possible for mainstream media to accept and work from a much stricter and honest set of ethical and moral standards. It is possible for CNN to examine the fact that the U.S. has troops on the ground in Iraq - American citizens who are human beings, and that maybe this matters a bit more than their ratings in the Arab world. It is also possible for Eason and CNN to explore the issues in Iraq between combatants and journalists in a very fair, factual, and objective manner.
All of this is possible, but it does sound terribly idealistic and Utopian. Someone like Hugh Hewitt would be much more practical and call for Eason to be fired as soon as the videotape is aired and the final facts are on the table. Eason also has a long trail of issues that is haunting him, so this is not the first problem, but one of many. Soundbites have no time to explore the problems of the human condition - "off with his head" works well in a 10 second clip on TV. Practical reality also has no time and patience to deal with such things. At this point, I have no real answer, only a struggle with what is the right thing that should happen here.
I would take no joy in Eason Jordan losing his job, even if it is the right and just thing to do. None of us should. We all can, have, and probably will make major mistakes in our lifetime. Perhaps not as large and visible as this one, but it will happen. The decision if he should maintain his role as the head of one of the world's largest news organizations is not mine to make, but it likely is in question. Whatever happens to him, imagine if this were happening to a friend. It may be deserved, it may be the right thing, but the outcome would leave you hollow. There should be no joy in seeing a fellow human being fall down. As the drive for accountability builds, it needs to be tempered with a sense of humility.
There should be no free ride here, and no easy way out for him. A complete and wholehearted admission of a mistake is also no guarantee. But it does rebuild a sense of respect.
My final point for now: as we charge forward, we should also tread carefully, especially Eason's counterparts in the media. This discussion, this debate brings no joy, and its outcome is uncertain. I hope that it can be for the good, for all sides, if that is somehow possible.
-R
No one expects politicians, journalists, bloggers or any human not to make mistakes. But we should, and do, expect them to be honest enough to fess up to any they make. Had Jordan admitted his faux pas and corrected it/them, he'd likely still have this CNN job. Essentially, then, he did it to himself.
Posted by: Bachbone | February 11, 2005 at 11:19 PM
Rony:
You are to be commended for your courage and persistence. It is over but yet just beginning. With the resignation of Mr. Jordan, finally we have a chance to hold all public influence yielding people accountable. Thank you.
Posted by: Richard Mansuetto | February 12, 2005 at 06:18 AM
Acountability is good. Vengeance is mine says the Lord! Thank you for giving a reminder that we all sin at times and need mercy.
Posted by: Marc Curry | February 12, 2005 at 07:16 AM
All very pious. But also hopelessly naive. Jordan isn't going to call for the release of the tape because he's already been paid by CNN, as part of his leaving package, not to do that.
Posted by: ZF | February 12, 2005 at 10:17 AM
Sir:
Just my warmest thanks and gratitude for your courageous reporting of Mr. Jordan's comments at Davos. You are to be commended.
Posted by: chispa | February 12, 2005 at 11:08 AM
Here's what came out of Easongate and what you did by standing up for our military:
Had Eason Jason's assertions that the US military (and by extension all the others serving in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East) were targetting journalists (and by implication who else might they be targetting), not been vigorously refutted after you so bravely reported it, at some time in the future in this psych war we are in with the countries of the Middle East who act as spokesmen for al-Qaeda, they would have trotted out the videotape of this encounter at some time in the future when it was most embarrassing, as proof of US atrocities.
It was absolutely KEY that Eason Jordan's statements be first, exposed and second, refuted vigorously. You bravely did the first--the blogosphere, once it became aware, was outraged and did the second. It had to be done and you served your country well. Be proud!
foreign devil in Canada
Posted by: foreign devil | February 12, 2005 at 12:54 PM
Thank you, Rony, for holding Jordan Eason accountable. The truth is indeed a stubborn thing......
Posted by: Clay | February 12, 2005 at 01:15 PM
The fact that Eason did not publish and release his statements, and explain and repudiate them on the grounds he had no admissible support for them, is because, it appears, he still holds a lingering belief they are or might be true. As an honest man I could not repudiate a statement I believed was true, even if I had no admissible proof for it. No one understands why Eason has resigned, rather than come clean and apologized. The only explanation is he can't, because in his dementia, he does not believe he has anything to apologize for. This raises the question, what hearsay gave him this "information" and why does Eason not want to expose it? The real story is the journalists getting shot. Now with Eason hiding the ball, that story, which Eason should have chased, will never be chased, hopefully because there was no story. But now we will never know.
Posted by: George Clarke | February 12, 2005 at 01:20 PM
When you meet someone in the flesh, and can look them in the eye and see that they are human, it is harder to simply call out for their head, as many are doing.
Perhaps if Mr. Jordan had spent more time meeting with troops, looking them in the eye and seeing that they are human, he would have thought twice before accusing them of deliberately killing journalists.
But he didn't.
Posted by: rosignol | February 12, 2005 at 03:32 PM
George Clark says "the real story is the journalists getting shot"! Say WHAT? That's like "the memos were fake but accurate" in the Rathergate story. THERE WERE NO JOURNALISTS SHOT! THAT'S THE STORY! Eason Jordan lied to make himself look 'in the know' in front of a bunch of influential people in Davos! He's a louthmouth and an a$$hole and THAT'S THE STORY! HIS LIES COULD HAVE DONE A LOT OF DAMAGE AS PROPAGANDA--AND THAT'S THE STORY TOO!
Posted by: foreign devil | February 12, 2005 at 03:35 PM
clearly,
there's a LOT of emotion
and NOT a lot of fact-finding
at the roots of this story.
i don't consider the blogosphere's
actions as a "witch-hunt".
neither do i agree with demanding
Jordan's dismissal before the Video was aired.
the bottom line is
Jordan's accustations
were without evidence,and clearly
presented in the wrong forum
if he indeed intended to level charges or murder.
at this point,it's still a cover-up.
Jordan's resignation is only marginally meaningful.
G. Clarke's and foreign devil's exchange
hinge on Jordan's being called on to legitimate
and provide EVIDENCE of his charges.
that isn't going to happen now.
Unless people in the US write their congressional
reps for an official hearing/investigation.
make the VIDEO public!
FOIA?
Public's right to know?
not in Davos.
m2c-
-doc
PS -
the seminar title was clearly stood on its head:
"Will Democracy Survive the Media?"
became instead:
"Will(One-to-Many)Media Survive Democracy
(Many-to- Many Media)?"
PPS -
thanks Rony,for risking your access to Davos
to report to the larger world
what was happening behind closed doors.
Posted by: doc | February 12, 2005 at 06:45 PM
correction:
"the bottom line is
Jordan's accustations
were without evidence,and clearly
presented in the wrong forum
if he indeed intended to level charges OF murder.
Posted by: doc | February 12, 2005 at 06:47 PM
Ironically, just a few days ago, Rony cited Zed Pobre's work on unearthing the evidence regarding the death toll on this very blog:
http://fixtheworld.blogs.com/fixtheworld/2005/02/easongate_the_e.html
Posted by: Jon Garfunkel | February 14, 2005 at 12:32 PM
Dear Mr. Fixtheworld
I recently lost the use of all of my senses, save one, in a rather unfortunate accident involving chocolate coffee beans and highly enriched uranium, and to this end, I was wondering whether or not you might, in the not too distant future, begin offering some of your web content in a more scratch-and-sniffable form. I look forward to this day, as I am sure that it will provide me with a greater insight into the workings of your fine mind, not to mention the fact that there is a suprising shortage of smellable media. Sadly, the last good story that I "read" turned out to be a cranapple fruit rollup. Thank you for your concern. Yours truely, - TDS
P.S. Have you seen my car keys? The last place that I saw them was on top of my ham sandwich.
Posted by: The Deviated Septum | February 15, 2005 at 03:55 AM