We could do the right thing, but it would be wrong!
In my post criticizing CNN for its journalistic lapse Friday in rushing to air with an unconfirmed report based on chatter heard on a police scanner, [The Rush to Be Wrong] I omitted any mention of CNN’s official explanation. The network’s rationale was that with the president nearby, and it being the anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks, and getting no contrary information from the Coast Guard, it just couldn’t wait any longer than 20–25 minutes for confirmation.
“Given the circumstances, it would have been irresponsible not to report on what we were hearing and seeing,” the statement said. Translation: “It would have been irresponsible for us to be responsible.” This raises Orwellian “newspeak” to new heights.
Let me be clear. The people at CNN are good journalists. This was not some malicious attempt to misinform or to hype a story. This was an honest mistake. In some ways, it’s even understandable. But what’s inexcusable is the failure of CNN to accept any blame at all for the bad call to go ahead with an explosive report without a single source of confirmation.
Many people who have posted comments on my previous post felt the Coast Guard was also at fault for conducting what is usually a routine exercise, without recognizing how the date, place, and location would make it seem anything but routine. I agree the Coast Guard could have done a better job. When CNN called repeatedly, someone at the Coast Guard should have known, and been able to say immediately this was drill. That was a lapse, too.
But the reason CNN comes off so badly is that it is seeking to shift ALL the blame to the Coast Guard, with no acknowledgement of its own shortcomings. If CNN were doing one of its trademark “Keeping Them Honest” reports about someone else in this position, I am fairly certainly it would label that statement self-serving spin.
Why do so many people distrust the media? Because of incidents like this. Not the mistake. Everybody makes mistakes. I have made mistakes. It’s the hypocrisy of holding everyone else accountable, but never themselves. As they say, it’s not the crime, but the cover-up.
The classic definition of “chutzpah” is the boy who murders his parents, and then asks for mercy because he’s an orphan. If you look up “chutzpah” now, you’ve likely to find CNN’s statement that it would be “irresponsible” to act responsibly.
