IP: CNN Chief Orders 'Balance' in War News

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 31, 2001; Page C01

The chairman of CNN has ordered his staff to balance images of civilian 
devastation in Afghan cities with reminders that the Taliban harbors 
murderous terrorists, saying it "seems perverse to focus too much on the 
casualties or hardship in Afghanistan."

In a memo to his international correspondents, Walter Isaacson said: "As we 
get good reports from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, we must redouble our 
efforts to make sure we do not seem to be simply reporting from their 
vantage or perspective. We must talk about how the Taliban are using 
civilian shields and how the Taliban have harbored the terrorists 
responsible for killing close to 5,000 innocent people."

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14435-2001Oct30.html


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