CNN Drops Editor After Hezbollah Comments

[JBeee]

*CNN`s Mid-East turncoat and hired propagandist Octavia Nasr gets da boot for speaking her mind*:lol:


July 7, 2010, 5:18 pm
By BRIAN STELTERCNN on Wednesday removed its senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs, Octavia Nasr, from her job after she published a Twitter message saying that she respected the Shiite cleric the Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who died on Sunday.

Ms. Nasr left her CNN office in Atlanta on Wednesday. Parisa Khosravi, the senior vice president for CNN International Newsgathering, said in an internal memorandum that she “had a conversation” with Ms. Nasr on Wednesday morning and that “we have decided that she will be leaving the company.”

Ms. Nasr, a 20-year veteran of CNN, wrote on Twitter after the cleric died on Sunday, “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah … One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.”

Ayatollah Fadlallah routinely denounced Israel and the United States, and supported suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Ayatollah Fadlallah’s writings and preachings inspired the Dawa Party of Iraq and a generation of militants, including the founders of Hezbollah, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

Some supporters of Israel seized on the Twitter posting almost immediately. A Web site called Honest Reporting that says it is “dedicated to defending Israel against prejudice in the media” asked, “Is Nasr a Hezbollah sympathizer? This is disturbing enough given that the group is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and is committed to the destruction of Israel.

“And which of Fadlallah’s individual views does Nasr admire?”

CNN officials became aware of Ms. Nasr’s message on Monday, and a spokesman said Tuesday that it was an “error of judgment” on her part. “CNN regrets any offense her Twitter message caused. It did not meet CNN’s editorial standards.

This is a serious matter and will be dealt with accordingly,” the spokesman said. Ms. Nasr apparently deleted the post at some point.

In a follow-up blog post on Tuesday evening, Ms. Nasr said she was sorry about the message “because it conveyed that I supported Fadlallah’s life’s work. That’s not the case at all.”

She said she used the words “respect” and “sad” because “to me, as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman’s rights. He called for the abolition of the tribal system of ‘honor killing.’ He called the practice primitive and nonproductive. He warned Muslim men that abuse of women was against Islam.”

She continued, “This does not mean I respected him for what else he did or said. Far from it.”

Her explanation was apparently not sufficient for her CNN bosses. Ms. Khosravi wrote in the memorandum, “At this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.” Her exit was first reported by the Web site Mediaite.

Despite her senior editor title, Ms. Nasr did not run CNN’s Middle East coverage, a network spokesman said. She reported and provided analysis about the region for CNN/U.S., CNN International and CNN.com.

She was also, as her CNN.com biography put it, a “leader in integrating social media with newsgathering and reporting.”

 

[Praxius]

Funny how CNN and other US news agencies have no issue keeping people who bash, alienate and call for extreme actions against US enemies and even their own allies such as Canada.... and brag about freedom of speech when defending these nut jobs.... yet suddenly they sack this individual for saying some kind words about someone who passed away that they personally respected.

And it was on their personal twitter account and not expressed or represented on any CNN web site or tv programming.

Being the US, it sounds like a perfect time to sue CNN..... when in Rome afterall.

 

[AnnaG]

Funny how CNN and other US news agencies have no issue keeping people who bash, alienate and call for extreme actions against US enemies and even their own allies such as Canada.... and brag about freedom of speech when defending these nut jobs.... yet suddenly they sack this individual for saying some kind words about someone who passed away that they personally respected.

And it was on their personal twitter account and not expressed or represented on any CNN web site or tv programming.

Being the US, it sounds like a perfect time to sue CNN..... when in Rome afterall.

Yup.

 

[JBeee]

She wouldn`t stand a chance of winning with Jews running both the American media outlets AND the court/justice system.

Funny how CNN and other US news agencies have no issue keeping people who bash, alienate and call for extreme actions against US enemies and even their own allies such as Canada.... and brag about freedom of speech when defending these nut jobs.... yet suddenly they sack this individual for saying some kind words about someone who passed away that they personally respected.

And it was on their personal twitter account and not expressed or represented on any CNN web site or tv programming.

Being the US, it sounds like a perfect time to sue CNN..... when in Rome afterall.

 

[TenPenny]

If she made a tweet saying that she had a lot of respect for someone who supported and encouraged suicide bombings, then I can see why a media outlet wouldn't want to keep her employed.

 

[Goober]

Funny how CNN and other US news agencies have no issue keeping people who bash, alienate and call for extreme actions against US enemies and even their own allies such as Canada.... and brag about freedom of speech when defending these nut jobs.... yet suddenly they sack this individual for saying some kind words about someone who passed away that they personally respected.

And it was on their personal twitter account and not expressed or represented on any CNN web site or tv programming.

Being the US, it sounds like a perfect time to sue CNN..... when in Rome afterall.

Her contact would cover professional behavior on and off the job - So that is out the window.

Secondly her credibility as an impartial journalist is also out the window.

3rd - It is a terror organization - supporting it in private one on one is much much different then sending it to the world on twitter is it not.

4th - CNN would have to fire her or be seen as supporting her views.

 

[Machjo]

*CNN`s Mid-East turncoat and hired propagandist Octavia Nasr gets da boot for speaking her mind*:lol:


July 7, 2010, 5:18 pm
By BRIAN STELTERCNN on Wednesday removed its senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs, Octavia Nasr, from her job after she published a Twitter message saying that she respected the Shiite cleric the Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, who died on Sunday.

Ms. Nasr left her CNN office in Atlanta on Wednesday. Parisa Khosravi, the senior vice president for CNN International Newsgathering, said in an internal memorandum that she “had a conversation” with Ms. Nasr on Wednesday morning and that “we have decided that she will be leaving the company.”

Ms. Nasr, a 20-year veteran of CNN, wrote on Twitter after the cleric died on Sunday, “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah … One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.”

Ayatollah Fadlallah routinely denounced Israel and the United States, and supported suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Ayatollah Fadlallah’s writings and preachings inspired the Dawa Party of Iraq and a generation of militants, including the founders of Hezbollah, The New York Times reported on Sunday.

Some supporters of Israel seized on the Twitter posting almost immediately. A Web site called Honest Reporting that says it is “dedicated to defending Israel against prejudice in the media” asked, “Is Nasr a Hezbollah sympathizer? This is disturbing enough given that the group is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and is committed to the destruction of Israel.

“And which of Fadlallah’s individual views does Nasr admire?”

CNN officials became aware of Ms. Nasr’s message on Monday, and a spokesman said Tuesday that it was an “error of judgment” on her part. “CNN regrets any offense her Twitter message caused. It did not meet CNN’s editorial standards.

This is a serious matter and will be dealt with accordingly,” the spokesman said. Ms. Nasr apparently deleted the post at some point.

In a follow-up blog post on Tuesday evening, Ms. Nasr said she was sorry about the message “because it conveyed that I supported Fadlallah’s life’s work. That’s not the case at all.”

She said she used the words “respect” and “sad” because “to me, as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman’s rights. He called for the abolition of the tribal system of ‘honor killing.’ He called the practice primitive and nonproductive. He warned Muslim men that abuse of women was against Islam.”

She continued, “This does not mean I respected him for what else he did or said. Far from it.”

Her explanation was apparently not sufficient for her CNN bosses. Ms. Khosravi wrote in the memorandum, “At this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.” Her exit was first reported by the Web site Mediaite.

Despite her senior editor title, Ms. Nasr did not run CNN’s Middle East coverage, a network spokesman said. She reported and provided analysis about the region for CNN/U.S., CNN International and CNN.com.

She was also, as her CNN.com biography put it, a “leader in integrating social media with newsgathering and reporting.”

As to why she would support a person who supported terrorism is beyond me. What is disturbing though is that CNN is censuring its staff's private lives. What she does outside work hours should be her business. What she being paid while putting that on Twitter, or was this something she was doing on her own time and dime?

If she did this on company time and dime, then CNN would be allowed to fire her for this. Otherwise, it's quite disturbing that CNN should be sticking its nose into the private lives of its staff members.

 

[gerryh]

As to why she would support a person who supported terrorism is beyond me. What is disturbing though is that CNN is censuring its staff's private lives. What she does outside work hours should be her business. What she being paid while putting that on Twitter, or was this something she was doing on her own time and dime?

If she did this on company time and dime, then CNN would be allowed to fire her for this. Otherwise, it's quite disturbing that CNN should be sticking its nose into the private lives of its staff members.

Here's her reasoning, obviously everyone else chose to ignore what she said, don't believe her explanation, or really don't give a sh||*t.

She said she used the words “respect” and “sad” because “to me, as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman’s rights. He called for the abolition of the tribal system of ‘honor killing.’ He called the practice primitive and nonproductive. He warned Muslim men that abuse of women was against Islam.”

She continued, “This does not mean I respected him for what else he did or said. Far from it.”

 

[Machjo]

Here's her reasoning, obviously everyone else chose to ignore what she said, don't believe her explanation, or really don't give a sh||*t.

Her comments there seem fair enough to me, and I can certainly understand that. That would be like my saying that I respect Hitler's policy on this or that particular specific point and then get fired and attacked for having 'supported Hitler'.

Clearly she clarified specifically what she liked about this cleric, and never suggested she necessarily supported him on all fronts. Yet even if she had, depending on the wording, etc. it's still disturbing that CNN should be sticking its nose into its staff's private lives.

 

[JBeee]

CNN’s Objectivity Questioned in Sacking of Mideast Reporter

By Eli Clifton On July 8, 2010 @ 11:00 pm

CNN’s firing of Octavia Nasr, the editor responsible for the network’s Middle East coverage, over a Twitter post in which she expressed her sadness over the death of a Lebanese cleric has set off a firestorm of debate about what the decision says about CNN’s fairness in reporting on the region.

On Sunday, Nasr wrote, "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah… One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot," on her Twitter account, which is followed by over 7,000 readers.

Fadlallah was an inspirational figure for Lebanese Shiites and an early supporter of Hezbollah.

Fadlallah, who initially supported the use of suicide bombings as a means of resistance against the occupation of Lebanon and Palestine, later criticized Hezbollah for its close ties to Iran, as well as Ayatollah Khomeini’s velayet- e faqih "rule of the clerics." which Khomeini imposed in Iran in 1979.

Critics of Fadlallah have charged that he was staunchly anti-U.S., and had been linked to bombings that killed more than 260 U.S. citizens, but others have pointed to the cleric’s support for women’s rights and fatwas against female circumcision and honor killings as evidence of his comparatively progressive position.

After the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and a number of right-wing news outlets and blogs took issue with her expression of regret over Fadlallah’s death, on Tuesday, Nasr wrote another Twitter post in which she attempted to clarify her earlier comment and emphasized her admiration of Fadlallah’s defense of women’s rights.

"Fadlallah, designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a specially designated terrorist, disseminated numerous fatawa’ supporting terrorist operations and was a vocal supporter of terrorism against Israeli targets," read a statement from the ADL on Tuesday.

"It is clearly an impropriety for a CNN journalist/editor to express such a partisan viewpoint as Ms. Nasr did in her tweet," the statement continued.

"How did CNN senior editor of Middle East affairs Octavia Nasr celebrate July 4? By mourning the passing of Hezbollah’s Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah," blogged Daniel Halper at the neoconservative Weekly Standard.

But other journalists and watchdog groups expressed concern over the speed with which CNN fired Nasr and the emergence of a double-standard when reporting on Middle Eastern affairs.

"The network — which has employed a former AIPAC official, Wolf Blitzer, as its primary news anchor for the last 15 years — justified its actions by claiming that Nasr’s ‘credibility’ had been ‘compromised,’" wrote Salon‘s Glenn Greenwald in an article in which he went on to argue that Nasr was fired for offending the "neocon Right" by expressing regret over the death of a "profoundly complex figure, with some legitimate grievances, some entrenched hatreds and ugly viewpoints, and a substantial capacity for good."

Peter Hart, activism director at Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a media watchdog group, told IPS that, "If there was some suggestion that she had been producing questionable journalism over all these years you’d think this would have been an issue before this, but it doesn’t seem to be the case. So it’s a decision which is disconnected from any sensible policy. The real problem is that she said something which offended very powerful people and that was her mistake."

Nasr had worked for the Atlanta-based CNN for 20 years and rarely appeared on-air except for occasional appearances as an analyst in discussions on Middle East news. She had no history of an anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian bias and, according to Greenwald, "blended perfectly into the American corporate media woodwork."

"Octavia Nasr got fired for the one smart thing she ever said," quipped journalist Nir Rosen, a fellow at the New York University Center on Law and Security, in a Twitter post.

"[P]lenty of American journalists and politicians have shown ‘respect’ (and in some cases, fawning admiration) for various world figures with hands far bloodier than Ayatollah Fadlallah — including Mao Zedong, Ariel Sharon, the Shah of Iran, or even Kim il Sung — but it didn’t cost them their jobs," wrote Stephen Walt, a professor of international relations at Harvard University.

Questions have been raised over why Nasr, known as an uncontroversial reporter of Middle East affairs, was fired so quickly for an off-the-cuff Twitter post.

According to some observers, her unwillingness to conform to the narrative depicted by a number of right-wing news outlets and U.S. Jewish groups that Fadlallah was a terrorist, anti-US and anti-Semitic resulted in CNN receiving pressure to fire her.

"Nasr’s comment was enough to spark fierce outrage from the various precincts of the neocon blog/twittersphere, who went after Nasr for her egregious failure to reduce Fadlallah to an anti-Israel, anti-American terrorist bogeyman," blogged Matt Duss, a National Security Researcher at the liberal Center For American Progress.

While right-wing news outlets, such as the Weekly Standard and the conservative WorldNetDaily gleefully reported on Nasr’s departure from CNN, others expressed concern for the double standard which has emerged when discussing Middle East affairs in the US mainstream media.

"The standard here is based on nothing that Nasr reported for CNN. [Her Twitter post] was barely a one sentence expression of sympathy. Firing her was a decision that was completely disconnected from her work so it’s a decision that’s very troubling. Lou Dobbs’s thoughts about immigrants were on CNN every night and CNN stood by him as the criticism mounted and the factual inaccuracies piled up," said Hart.

"In this case, a stray comment is enough to terminate someone’s role at CNN almost overnight," he said. "The discrepancy is rather revealing and CNN would have a very hard time revealing precisely what their policy is on this. It’s hard to find precedent for this. She has a history of covering the region and that is not easily replaced."

 

[Goober]

Her comments there seem fair enough to me, and I can certainly understand that. That would be like my saying that I respect Hitler's policy on this or that particular specific point and then get fired and attacked for having 'supported Hitler'.

Clearly she clarified specifically what she liked about this cleric, and never suggested she necessarily supported him on all fronts. Yet even if she had, depending on the wording, etc. it's still disturbing that CNN should be sticking its nose into its staff's private lives.

Many companies can fire a person for their off work activities - comments etc - also she tainted her credibility as impartial - next CNN is a News Org, World Wide - So her contract I am sure of would have off work activities, comments, behavior covered.

As to CNN sticking their nose into a person private life - again she is a public personality - Representing CNN.

People have been fired for slagging their boss on Face Book -

 

[Andem]

Please keep this thread on topic. I've moderated the anti-jew/pro-jew comments.

 

[Praxius]

Her contact would cover professional behavior on and off the job - So that is out the window.

Secondly her credibility as an impartial journalist is also out the window.

3rd - It is a terror organization - supporting it in private one on one is much much different then sending it to the world on twitter is it not.

4th - CNN would have to fire her or be seen as supporting her views.

Or they could have reprimanded her in some way or suspended her for a week or something.... that was just over kill to please a certain group... and CNN apparently isn't the only bunch pulling this stunt:

U.K. removes blog post praising late Lebanese cleric
U.K. removes blog post praising late Lebanese cleric - CTV News

LONDON — Britain's ambassador to Lebanon angered Israelis and embarrassed officials in London after writing a blog post praising the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a staunchly anti-American cleric linked to Hezbollah.

Frances Guy, who has served nearly four years as the Britain's ambassador in Lebanon, made her tribute following the cleric's death late last week. Writing in a blog carried on the Foreign Office's Web site, she called Fadlallah a decent human being and a "true man of religion."

"Lebanon is a lesser place the day after," she wrote. "If I was sad to hear the news I know other peoples' lives will be truly blighted. The world needs more men like him willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints. May he rest in peace."

Officials in Jerusalem were furious. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor described Fadlallah as an extremist who inspired "suicide bombings, assassinations and all kinds of wanton violence."


"The British ambassador must decide whether promoting terror and giving it religious justification can be considered a heritage to be cherished," Palmor said......

^ So of course everybody has to go witch hunting and censoring or punishing those speaking their minds in order to please the Mighty Israeli goons..... whom whenever someone praises or excuses their use of cluster bombs, white phosphorous ordinance, and human shields.... it's perfectly fine.

Do as we say, not as we do apparently is the rule of thumb.... you have freedom of speech so long as what you say is what we like.... otherwise get ready to lose your job or be punished in some other manner.

Related News:

Hezbollah denounces CNN's firing of Mideast editor
Hezbollah denounces CNN's firing of Mideast editor - CTV News

BEIRUT — The Lebanese militant Hezbollah has denounced CNN's decision to fire a Middle East editor for posting a note on Twitter expressing admiration for the country's late top Shiite cleric.

Octavia Nasr later apologized for her tweet in which she described Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah as "one of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot." But CNN officials said her credibility had been compromised.

Hezbollah's spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi says CNN's decision amounts to "intellectual terrorism" and reflects the West's "double standards" in dealing with the Mideast.

He said in a statement issued on Friday that the decision to fire Nasr -- a Lebanese who worked for CNN for two decades -- exposes America's false claims regarding freedom of expression.

It seems everybody else can see this for what it really is.....

Hell, people praise China, North Korea, Russia, Pakistan, etc. for various things even though each country has pulled some nasty things in the past such as human rights violations, the killing of their own citizens, attacking their neighbors, sending off spies into our countries covered as one of us, etc...... hell even Israel does this and then some more.... yet it's all ok to speak your mind freely about them and kiss their arses all you want.

But praise someone who was a part of Hezbollah (The Recognized leaders of a nation) and offend precious little Israel and suddenly all the rules change..... someone who while might have done some questionable or even flat out wrong things in the past, still did some very good things for the region and the people, such as what was mentioned above towards protecting women and their rights......

Oh, but because he didn't like Israel or the US..... suddenly anybody who points out anything good he has done should be drummed out of their jobs or otherwise censored from the public?

Pathetic.

Added:

And for the record and in reference to Andem's post above, once again for the record, I don't hate people of the Jewish faith.... I hate the government of Israel and the wankers who feel that everybody should bow and kiss their feet like they're somehow Gods who can do no wrong themselves...... who preach about freedoms, rights and speech, etc.... yet contradict themselves when those freedoms are expressed towards things they don't like.

Many companies can fire a person for their off work activities - comments etc -

If what they do in their private lives is somehow against the law, sure.... otherwise they're going over the line and should mind their own damn business..... which the private lives of their employees is not.

also she tainted her credibility as impartial

And CNN Didn't?

- next CNN is a News Org, World Wide - So her contract I am sure of would have off work activities, comments, behavior covered.

As to CNN sticking their nose into a person private life - again she is a public personality - Representing CNN.

People have been fired for slagging their boss on Face Book -

So since her job basically entails reporting everything under the sun when it is news, she can't even take a crap in her bathroom without CNN's approval? :-?

I understand being fired for trashing your boss online..... that is directly related to your job since it's your boss.... but she didn't work for this guy and this guy wasn't CNN's arch enemy or competition.

Hell you get idiots like those on Fox saying the US should invade Canada and they get away with it by simply giving an empty apology.... regardless if they were just some pundits screwing around or a real news source.... they too were on national TV..... in fact they were worse then her, because she spoke her mind in her private life and off the job..... these guys flat out said what they said on national TV and during their jobs...... where's the logic in that? (Two different media companies, but the principle's the same)

 

[Machjo]

Many companies can fire a person for their off work activities - comments etc - also she tainted her credibility as impartial - next CNN is a News Org, World Wide - So her contract I am sure of would have off work activities, comments, behavior covered.

As to CNN sticking their nose into a person private life - again she is a public personality - Representing CNN.

People have been fired for slagging their boss on Face Book -

I can agree to an extent. But as Gerryh pointed out there, the comment was expressing approval of specific policies of his. And even without that, her comments were expressed in a respectful manner even if we disagreed with the content of those comments. She wasn't slagging her boss there.

And as for objectivity, to make a positive comment about one person does not automatically negate the possibility of making an equally positive comment about his opponent.

Exactly, Praxius. There is a difference between saying 'I admire dictator X for his policy Y'. That's not at all the same as saying 'I agree with absolutely everything dictator X does.

 

[Goober]

Praxius

Quoting Goober Many companies can fire a person for their off work activities - comments etc -
​

If what they do in their private lives is somehow against the law, sure.... otherwise they're going over the line and should mind their own damn business..... which the private lives of their employees is not.

It is not illegal when you have a contract that specifies certain standards are to be maintained - Witness when a sport star gets into some crap - Advertisers pull those adds and drop them at times - Contrcat is over and done - quite legal.