CNN fires mideast affairs editor

On the narrow issue of "fast-firing" -- that is standard practice in television news. On-air personnel are fired quickly so that they do not get any opportunity to rant on the air about their employers.

I don't think that her admiration for some of his traits means support for his positions. Once upon a time, you could respect your opposition while at the same time disagreeing with his beliefs. You could also express respect for some positions while rejecting others. When Strom Thurmond passed away, I think you saw a lot of this. I think she made it clear that she respected his positions on women's rights and respected him for being a pioneer in that area. She never expressed support for terrorism.

I prefer old school journalism where they do what they can to report impartially, to not communicate their person opinions. However, if they are going to be yaking up the airwaves with their opinions then we can't have their corporate masters dictating what are "proper" opinions.

This even is another in a long line of warnings of how degraded our journalistic media has become.

It is a case of the Jewish disrespect for freedom of speech. Voltaire must be urning in his grave. It seems Israel is above reproach even in speech. Israel doth protests too much.

As I understand it, she is on the editorial staff. That's different from straight reporting, and has been so in journalism for many decades, on tv or newspapers.
Me, I don't watch CNN, no tv, so I don't know if there are straightforward news broadcasts and then CNN editorial pieces. I'm not a fan of straightforward news told with semihidden underlying bias, but to some extent, even very straight straightforward news has built in bias... and always has.

How do you get that about Jewish disrespect for freedom of speech. Surely not all Jews or anywhere near most subscribe to that. Is Israel somehow involved in the firing?

SHe was an editor who was often on-air. There is a slim chance that CNN (time warner) has an argument that she was one of a select group who were tasked with staying impartial, but I highly doubt it. Certainly almost all the rest of their employees are highly encouraged to take personal positions. They fired her saying that she had lost her credibility, which I take as lost her ability to not piss off the pro Israel lobby. After Obama's tail between is legs sucking up to that thug Netanyahu show this week there should be no doubt that this clan retains enormous strength in the American halls of power.

This is a myth. Journalism like this has never happened (the more likely story is that there were journalists who matched your biases).

It is not a myth that they tried (I mistyped...wanted to say "where they try to do what they can). I don't remember anyone saying that they completely succeeded, but some such as Cronkite believed that they did a pretty fair job, to which I concur.

This is the downside of asking reporters to tweet and blog. What are they going to say on these forums if they don't express opinions? There are plenty of continuous news feeds. I think their corporate masters are setting them up for just this kind of mishap. Sorry it cost this woman her job.

Makes sense to me. Catch 22, or 99.

good point...this employee was tweeting and thus not part of a select group in the exclusion zone on giving personal opinions.....Time Warner is full of ****, this woman got canned because her opinions were not the ones her corporate masters wanted her to have.

The message: act like you are giving personal opinion to help us connect with the audience and make our stockholders money, but make sure those opinions are approved by the corporation.

Another McChrystal syndrome example.

I tell my 11 year old granddaughter to not write everything she thinks.

But I resent corporate Big Brother.

Make she she studies the BIO of Elena Kagan, that should drive the message home....

On the other hand teaching kids that they can't get anywhere in this society unless they put on an act....is problematic. And some people still think that there is room for debate on the question of how fucked up America is??...