CNN claims reporters targeted

["Sean Smyth" <ssmyth@suscom.net>]

In a story on Newsnight Thursday, Eaton Jordan, CNN's News Executive,
described a plot where CNN reporters in Kurdish-run northern Iraq were
alledgedly targeted by the Iraq government in a bombing plot of the
journalists' hotel. According to a taped piece, Kurdish police caught the
would-be bombers before the assassinations could be carrid out. Jordan said
that the Iraqi government was angered that CNN would disobey the
government's request and send reporters to the north, anyway. Jordan also
said that Iraqi officials claimed that CNN was an arm of the CIA and that
the Information Minister banned correspondents such as Wolf Blitzer,
Christiane Amanpour and Brent Sadler from reporting in Baghdad once bureau
chief Jane Arraf was thrown out in December. In addition, Jordan claimed
that correspondents from non-Arab news outlets (Reuters, AP, etc.) were
threatened with jailing or worse by Saddam's people if they communicated
with CNN or CNN aired their footage after CNN's reporters were thrown out
for good in late March.

My question is this: is it right for CNN to be making itself the story here?
Undoubtedly, all U.S. journalists were targets at some point of the Iraqi
regime. There is no love lost by their higher-ups and any American crossing
into the nation's territory was in danger. Maybe other networks didn't have
their crews targeted so explicitly, but they were still probably in danger.
They claimed this story was aired now because it was "safe" to do so after
the dismantling of Saddam's regime.

Incidentally, MSNBC seems to be the first of the all-news channels to ditch
direct live, around-the-clock coverage of Iraq conflict. About 20 minutes
ago, my insomniac self noticed a taped edition of Hardball airing. CNN is
now turning over a 3-hour late-late night block to CNN International as of
the past couple days. Fox News is the only all-news net live and U.S.-headed
24-7 at the moment.