"Facts vs. Credentials, take number...?"

Instapundit linked to Matt Kempner's article in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. My email to Mr. Kempner follows:


Good Morning, Thank you for your article in the AJC. (Easy registration required) Your inclusion of many points of view and opinions about these events shows a thoroughness that should be the standard in journalism and reporting. I wanted to take a moment and comment on two people quoted in your article. First: "Bloggers pushed CNN to ask the World Economic Forum for a transcript of the discussion. The network did not do so,spokeswoman Christa Robinson said, because there's no dispute over what Jordan said and because he tried to clarify his comments." The two emails I received from CNN said first that his remarks were "taken out of context". I suggested they show the context, ( tapes or transcripts), and therefore clear things up. Their second email said, (and I paraphrase), Mr. Jordan did not quite say what he meant. Taking their emails and Christa Robinson's assertions as factual, why then did Eason Jordan resign? What tarnishing of CNN did he hand in his badge and gun to avoid? Surely the videotape from Davos would have cleared all this up. Ed Morrissey of CaptainsQuarters blog, http://captainsquartersblog.com/ says that as a member of the Board of the World Economic Forum, Eason Jordan's request to release the video certainly would have carried weight. (On a personal note, I did not want Mr. Jordan to resolve these questions by resignation, but by open responsiveness.) The second quote: " Former CNN News Group Chairman Walter Isaacson wrote in an e-mail to the AJC that Jordan was dedicated to "the value of hard reporting by real journalists who braved going out into the field, like he so often did, rather than merely opining. It's ironic that he was brought down partly by talk-show and blogging folks who represent the opposite approach and have seldom . . . ventured out to do . . . frontline reporting." Was it not the "opining" of rumors American soldiers were murdering journalists fired up this storm? Cannot those of us, sitting at home in our pajamas, expect "hard reporting by real journalists" to abjure slander and cant? (It was, after all, a blogger, Rony Abovitz, present at Davos, who first reported Mr. Jordan's comments. http://www.forumblog.org/blog/2005/01/do_us_troops_ta.htm And blogger/journalist Michelle Malkin, http://michellemaklin.com/ who spoke with Barney Frank, and, if I recall correctly, David Gergen and Senator Dodd, in the following several days. confirming Eason Jordan's remarks.) So there was some "real reporting" taking place. Now, unfortunately, with Eason Jordan's retirement, the liklihood of our seeing the tape is diminishing. My belief is it would have shown, among other things upon which we can only speculate (and I will not), is the reaction of members of the audience who surrounded Eason Jordan, congratulating him for his courageous stance, and telling the truth about the American soldiers.Another link: http://michellemalkin.com/archives/001447.htm That would have been tarnish and shellac both. Thank you for your time and attention.

Again we see the attempt to trump facts with credentials

Correction: Oops! Captain Ed has issued a correction, so must I. Eason Jordan is not on the board of the World Economic Forum.