Watchdog of the Week: CNN Acting “Brain Dead”

Hayley Nagelberg is a high school senior who recently was able to confront Richard Davis, the Executive Vice President of News Standards and Practices for CNN about the network’s coverage of Israel. She was particularly appalled at the coverage of the Har Nof terrorist attack that left four innocent people dead. She asked him how CNN could possibly publish that it had been a mosque that was attacked or fail to differentiate between the victims and the terrorists in its initial coverage of the horrific attack. Why couldn’t they at least use the word “attack to describe the massacre?

The response from CNN shocked her. She writes:

“But by the time it was known that it was four Israelis and two Palestinians, it was known that there were meat cleavers and stabbings involved. Why couldn’t you call it an ‘attack’?” I continued. His response? “You’ve got to be kidding me? One word? Are you brain dead?”

Yes, I am serious. Yes, it’s one word. It makes a difference. No, I am not brain dead. I am a seventeen-year old girl from New Jersey who is appalled by the biased media coverage of Israel here in America. I am disgusted by the false headlines. I am pained by the ignorance of so many people, yourself included. And, most importantly, I am saddened and ashamed that there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.

 

…The time for change is now, and if you are not prepared to be a part of the change, I ask you, ‘Are you serious?… Are you brain dead?’