CNN Falls Victim to Internet Smear
February 13, 2012 12:18 by Simon Plosker
Any Israel supporter has seen his or her share of phony reports about alleged Israeli crimes spread like wildfire through the Internet. Before anyone has the chance to correct the record, the public has already been irrevocably exposed to the false report.
Well, this week, it happened to CNN. Two weeks after the Israeli Walla news site (Hebrew) reported that CNN had downsized its Jerusalem bureau, the blogosphere suddenly erupted with suspicions that CNN had deliberately laid-off the Jewish Israeli staff, leaving only Arab employees.
According to the blog site where the story appeared to originate:
CNN has fired four Israeli Jewish journalists (out of a crew of 8), and has retained only Arab journalists. Where, until now, CNN always sent a Jewish and an Arab journalist to cover information, now there will be only an Arab journalist. The local chief editor of the News Chanel is now a non Jewish (when we first learned that the new bureau chief was not Jewish, we misconcluded that he was an Arab, but he is neither Jewish or Arab).
From here it was only a small step towards serious accusations of anti-Semitism. But since bloggers are not held to the same professional standards of fact checking as the mainstream media, we at HonestReporting felt ethically bound to dig deeper into the story.
From our own base in Jerusalem, we have seen for ourselves many foreign media outlets downsizing, mainly due to budgetary considerations but also as the Middle East story starts to move elsewhere. We contacted our own sources in the local media and CNN itself to get to the bottom of the story.
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A little fact-checking led us to the original downsizing story, published as far back as January 23. The Walla article raised legitimate concerns about potential consequences for balanced reporting in the CNN bureau but did not cross the line into accusations of anti-Semitism.
If CNN really had deliberately targeted Jewish employees based solely on their ethnicity, surely this would have been a scandal that would have made far bigger waves in the Israeli press at the time as well as beyond?
oferdesade
12:33 pm
Feb 13, 2012
nowadays, ynet, for example, uses jewish israeli staff and pays them a fraction of what the older guard of news-op personnel command. the claim that the israelis have higher salaries is bogus – they could find cheaper ones. the claim remains, though, that palestinian journalists are not as free to report as their israeli counterparts are. the past performance of cnn also stands in their blight. the onus of proof should be upon them, not the detractors.
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Yisrael Medad
12:57 pm
Feb 13, 2012
in reading this, “CNN currently has seven employees working in CNN’s Jerusalem bureau, four of whom are Jewish”, I would feel much more assured if I knew the positions of these employees. Reporter? Editor? Fact-checker? Cameraman? Soundman? Producer? Secretary?
The other side of being so biased is that untill all the facts are in, on one should give CNN a pass. In American football, we have the slow-motion playback reviews. CNN has had too many yellow flags tossed about to feel complacent about this one without a fool picture.
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Maggie Cinge
1:46 pm
Feb 13, 2012
CNN is definitely guilty of bias against Israel- continuously. Their headlines always portray Israel as the guilty party and when Israeli sources “claim” a certain thing happened (according to CNN), Palestinian sources “said” or hospital officials in Gaza “report”…it’s subtle to casual reader but blatant to those who know the truth. I recently decided not to frequent the CNN website. I feel like there is really no international news agency I can trust- any suggestions for a balanced news homepage?
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Avi
2:50 am
Feb 14, 2012
Share ideas about European collapse
Feb2012 HR:
“… phony reports about alleged Israeli crimes spread like wildfire through the Internet. Before anyone has the chance to correct the record, the public has already been irrevocably exposed to the false report”.
I dare ask why?
I would like to share a second idea
2) Human Self defense quality is NOT normally distributed. A thin minority of 5-10 % of population, rules over the rest (90-95%). If this Minority, as a group, is and acts as morals, then during their power, that majority can be lead to maintain their humanitarian nature. The National Moral Identity of that nation is preserved, at least so log as the ruling group prevails. But, sooner or later, the nature of the Leaders of that minority shift. Tyrants, Selfish People, Opportunists, and cold blooded killers ascend, and try to grab the rule! One they succeed, that “quite majority”, is easily manipulated and forced to do “unprecedented”, “inhuman”, and “immoral” acts. They easily can also be lead to loose interest in their Own Self, their Identity, their standards, and even their lives and souls. To an outsider, it seems that European LEADING Groups are pacing towards this almost irreversible downhill! More and More Politicians, Journalists, Lecturers, and Philosophers of the West, seem to be ready to sell their own (and consequently, their own Nation’s) identity, provided that they remain in command and preserve their own Roles and Positions. Europe’s Identity seems to be on Sails nowadays. Especially by Multi-Media owners, and their modern guardians-servants. The manipulation of the European Majority, by pro-Arab, pro-Moslem minority groups, seems to have started back at 1973, with the global Arab-Moslem Embargo of gasoline. Since them billions of Petro-$s have been pouring with that black commodity!
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Do they only hire Jews on a subcontract basis?
2:17 pm
Feb 13, 2012
In order that it’s easier to fire them later? We already know CNN relies almost exclusively on Fatah supplied stringers. But if they body-shop that end of the business, every time they get rid of one Fatah supplied head, another one takes his or her place.
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CNN's Fool Picture? - ScrollPost.com
2:24 pm
Feb 13, 2012
[...] Fool Picture? Honest Reporting has a reaction and a basic denial to the CNN downsizing story spin of ‘getting rid of the Jews’ that I [...]
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Albert Reingewirtz
4:16 pm
Feb 13, 2012
There is no need to invent anything about CNN. Just watch CNN reporting in the Middle East and it becomes obvious very fast that it is reporting Arab terror propaganda as news.
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Atikva
4:19 pm
Feb 13, 2012
The point is not that CNN fired its Jewish “employees” in Israel, the point is that CNN fired its Jewish JOURNALISTS in Israel, so that now all CNN news in Israel will be concocted by Arab muslims – except for the Editor-in-Chief who is neither Jewish or Arab (but who is obviously not going to go against ALL his Arab journalists).
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Albert Reingewirtz
4:32 pm
Feb 13, 2012
But why are you surprised or offended by CNN now? All along there is not pro- Israel anything coming out of CNN. CNN broadcasts could be written in Ramallah as is all the time when it comes to Israel. The surprise is that any Jew in Jerusalem once worked for CNN. Wolf Blitzer is a Jew making too much money to say anything truthful when it comes to Israel. His bank account comes first. Blitzer is a House Jew.
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steve mann
4:34 pm
Feb 13, 2012
Isn`t there some tie between CNN and the BBC-? If so that would explain a lot!
BBC -Publish the Balen report!
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Albert Reingewirtz
4:36 pm
Feb 13, 2012
Every morning CNN relays the BBC to it’s listeners. Two peas in a pod. Very good observation. Thank you.
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deacon
5:17 pm
Feb 13, 2012
What do you expect, as its totaly owned by Arab money, I would go as much and say that CNN Jerusalem, is an extra eye for Hazbola.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mark
5:20 pm
Feb 13, 2012
Please don’t smear the issue of CNN being always anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish by its rotten nature. no wonder that there is very close cooperation between Jew-hating BBC and CNN.
So stop complaining about CNN being smeared by the bad Internet bloggers. CNN’s ugly ass-face can’t be concealed.
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John Versteege
5:37 pm
Feb 13, 2012
I must say I am a little surprised…
) to believe that the headline IS true.
If I had not read your entire story, till the end, and stuck to
the headline, I would have indeed jumped to a false conclusion…
Also, the addition of your artistic/creative design, (good one indeed, IF it were TRUE!)
to the right of the Title, leads all (or at least me
Somehow, I feel that you are not playing right…
Watch your steps, as you may slide…just like so many others have before.
Like your work, thus my comment.
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Stan Lee
5:42 pm
Feb 13, 2012
If I tune to CNN, it is strictly unintentional. I never bother to waste time there anymore. About the time CNN arranged for itself favored treatment by the Saddam regime, I decided to become part of its former viewer base.
BBC has never been on my list of decent choices. It has been referred as “Baghdad Broadcasting Co.” for good reasons. Both CNN and BBC are at least anti-Israeli and definitely are pro-Muslim Arab.
I think that the only reason any Jews were on the CNN payroll is that organization wants the prestige of an office in Israel in order to perpetuate its faux image of “impartial reporting” on an international scale.
Both CNN and BBC resist the reality that the viewing public is becoming negative to their anti-Israel agenda.
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amos
5:59 pm
Feb 13, 2012
I have just spent two months in Central America and although the press is anti-Israel the people are NOT. Everywhere we went, as soon as we said we were from Israel, people showed that they absolutely love us – a taxi driver refused to take our money and all said it was their dream to visit Israel. So CNN does not seem to have much of an impact on the public. People are not the fools they think they are.
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cinge
6:11 pm
Feb 13, 2012
Another reason they keep their offices in Jerusalem is because they know they will be protected and safe, and the society is free and fair. Unlike anywhere in the Arab world. So basically they are reaping the freedoms, safety and joys of Israel while bashing it at the same time.
Hypocrites.
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kp
5:44 pm
Feb 13, 2012
The Middle East news is moving elsewhere ? Heard anything about Isreal attacking Iran?
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Ruth Dodziuk-Justitz
5:45 pm
Feb 13, 2012
CNN, BBC, New York Times…. no further comment needed.
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cinge
6:11 pm
Feb 13, 2012
please add NPR to that list.
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Avi
3:04 am
Feb 14, 2012
Share ideas about European collapse
Feb2012 HR:
“… phony reports about alleged Israeli crimes spread like wildfire through the Internet. Before anyone has the chance to correct the record, the public has already been irrevocably exposed to the false report”.
I dare ask why?
Here I pose a few “tails”, on which every one is invited to criticizes, shout, curse, or praise at will (please look for earlier parts):
3) There are several approaches in analysis of Human Mind and Personality. One of them is the extrapolation that Humans, by nature tend to have freedom, a sense of equality, an appreciation of love and life! It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? But. Is it a real description of a “representative human being”? Even if we suppose so, still one can ask: is it a prevailing long standing self-maintained characteristic of “man” at large? If you say yes, then how does one explain the collapse of European then, at 1930s and 40s, under Hitler, Stalin, and their martyrs? How do you explain this ever-growing enthusiasm of about 1/3 of earth’s population to believe in non-equality (based on the religion), while 1/3 more see and close their eyes and hearts? Might be the model is wrong! Is it possible that the majority of people do not have the maturity for self-decision making? Many European Women choose to breed upon the STRONG, FORCEFULL, RUTHLESS, and rich men! Why? Is it possible they follow the mechanical nature of wild kingdom? Is it possible they want their children to be born such that have a “better” chance, position, opportunity? What Mammal does intentionally prefer “soft”, “gentle”, “slow”, “hesitant” masculine over the strong, vital, prying and praying ones? (only one that I can think of: the Jews, who have developed a rather winding, complicated of defining “soul-moral-strength”). So, if it has any validity at all, the stronger the Moslems hit Europe, the more Europeans would fall at their feet! Moslems seem to have discovered this human character some 1300 years back. European News media, with their super-acute keen, have found that decades ago, and join the party. Western culture seems to be loosing the gaim, and who wants to find himself at the loosing side?
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Zechar
6:59 pm
Feb 13, 2012
Most people are calling CNN the crescent news network or the caliphate news network. Their bias is plain to see in their dishonest reporting on all issues!
Salary is based on ability and productivity. If the islamic, Arab, or palestinian staffers are paid less then the reason should be easily seen. Having worked in Israel, I did not see the the work ethic or ability at a high level among those groups.
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Rick
8:09 pm
Feb 13, 2012
HR, you don’t seem to understand your own story. By your own numbers, they fired 4 people, ALL of whom are Israeli Jews. They fired ONLY Jews.
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Henry Federman
9:46 pm
Feb 13, 2012
Israel needs CNN like it needs al jezeera!
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Bill Kelly
11:20 pm
Feb 13, 2012
This kind of smacks of what has been called “yellow journalism’. Which was often making claims for the pure aim of being contentious. With the idea that even if there is no controversy, and no story, they can make one up and sell papers. But bloggers? Perhaps they are so anxious to tell a story, that they are relying on rumors, and unverified claims. Even though the are not typically “held” to to a journalist’s standards, they still can be sued for libel and slander. At least in some countries.
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