Am I the only one troubled by Eason Jordan’s harrowing column in today’s New York Times? He writes about how CNN employees and contacts in Iraq were tortured or threatened. To keep the bureau operating, CNN stayed stumm. As chief news executive at CNN, was his responsibility to protect CNN’s office in Baghdad and its workers, or to get the news out? These are not easy questions, but I think the news had to be his priority at the expense of closing the office. What compromises is CNN making in other repressive parts of the world?
I think it’s a beautiful sight, but I have to question the Financial Times’s priorities when it gives the end of Concorde a news story, a large analysis, a Lex column entry and a leader comment (subscribers only, so I’ll spare you the links). Come on, everyone knows Concorde has long been a good-looking remnant of a bygone age. If further proof were needed, the FT’s news story claims four of the most loyal Concorde passengers are the Duchess of York, Joan Collins, Sir David Frost and Sir Elton John. Shudder.
The Guardian has a true journalistic coup: a column from Mohammed Saaed al-Sahaf, until recently Iraq’s minister of information. He’s maintaining his high standards of truth. “Do not believe for one moment the lies of the immoral mercenaries of the mayoral office. The truth is that in the weeks since the charge was implemented, traffic on all ring roads and major arteries has trebled, while central London has become a scorched wasteland, populated only by foxes and jackals.”