What should CNN apologize for next?
A powerful sign that speaking up matters
This week Christiane Amanpour, the most widely recognized CNN figure worldwide, actually apologized for something she said about Israeli hostages — a stunning admission and rare moment of accountability from a mainstream media giant.
Hear it in the latest episode (and scroll down for a transcript):
It was a sign that speaking out and applying pressure to the media makes a difference. When news executives feel that their failures are being exposed to a large audience, they take action.
Fighting that good fight is what They Stand Corrected is all about. While this show tackles all the big mainstream media, CNN alone could fill each episode. My old stomping grounds is structurally designed as an “open mic night” for liars. See “CNN squeezes in another whopper,” “CNN’s bonkers lie about militaries,” “When the media ignores itself,” and more.
All subscribers can vote in this poll. I’ve fact checked each of these false claims in previous episodes. Pick the worst of the worst, and I’ll share results on the show:
As I discuss in this episode, of course anyone can misspeak in a live shot. I have. Everyone who reports live on air knows what that’s like. But that’s not what happened here. Anyone who understands basics of the hostages’ plight would never even think what Christiane said.
This is far from her first appearance on They Stand Corrected. Her greatest hits include:
lying about global intelligence on Iran (Episode 62)
platforming anti-Israel propagandist “documentarians” (Episode 40)
praising Al Jazeera as a source of “truth” (Episode 11)
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What happened this week exactly? Below is a cleaned up, hyperlinked transcript, available to supporters who make all this work possible. Speaking of supporters, in next week’s show I’m answering a bunch of your questions and comments. Thank you!