Conservatives have long complained that mainstream media outlets are biased against them. In some cases, those complaints stem from good-faith concern about the U.S. news ecosystem. They also sometimes tip into unpatriotic, bad-faith madness.
Here’s an example of the latter, in which Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) blasts a report from CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward on the streets of Kabul:
Here’s the setup for what Cruz and other critics found objectionable from Ward: She had appeared near the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, where Taliban fighters had congregated. She described the scene, noting that some folks had approached the militants to take pictures. She then made this observation: “They’re just chanting, ‘Death to America,’ but they seem friendly at the same time. It’s utterly bizarre.” (Ward’s entire report can be found in this transcript and on this video.)
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But people looking to score points against CNN left out the “bizarre” part of the quote. Such shorn-of-context tweets spilled onto right-wing Twitter on Monday.
Such commentary omitted the contours of Ward’s reporting since the onset of this news cycle, describing how Afghan journalists and others in the country are “petrified” about the Taliban takeover and the clear dangers for Afghan women.
The attacks on Ward are more than just a one-off Twitter frenzy; they reflect, rather, an ignorance about what it takes for a news outlet to bring real-time international reporting to American audiences. CNN hired Ward in 2015 to extend its reach into international conflict zones. She was a logical choice, considering her willingness to brave theaters of war in search of exclusive stories. Twice she entered the muck of the Syrian civil war on what her boss called “unilateral” trips in the early 2010s.
In a segment on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday, Ward noted that there was “no sense at the moment that Western journalists are being targeted.” Even so, she told host Brian Stelter that she’d taken safety precautions. “We’ve moved our live shot position, as you can probably see yet again, inside now because there was quite a lot of gunfire outside and we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
Did you catch that bit of CNN programming, Sen. Cruz? Does it matter to you that the correspondent you’re cheap-shotting risks her life in the course of her work?
And now for the irony: People like Cruz are wise to watch CNN’s well-funded, on-the-ground coverage of crises such as the one now unfolding in Kabul. It helps them sharpen their critiques of President Biden. They might consider how informed they would be if people like Ward weren’t risking their hides for the story. But they won’t.
Here’s an example of the latter, in which Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) blasts a report from CNN correspondent Clarissa Ward on the streets of Kabul:
Here’s the setup for what Cruz and other critics found objectionable from Ward: She had appeared near the U.S. Embassy compound in Kabul, where Taliban fighters had congregated. She described the scene, noting that some folks had approached the militants to take pictures. She then made this observation: “They’re just chanting, ‘Death to America,’ but they seem friendly at the same time. It’s utterly bizarre.” (Ward’s entire report can be found in this transcript and on this video.)
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But people looking to score points against CNN left out the “bizarre” part of the quote. Such shorn-of-context tweets spilled onto right-wing Twitter on Monday.
Such commentary omitted the contours of Ward’s reporting since the onset of this news cycle, describing how Afghan journalists and others in the country are “petrified” about the Taliban takeover and the clear dangers for Afghan women.
The attacks on Ward are more than just a one-off Twitter frenzy; they reflect, rather, an ignorance about what it takes for a news outlet to bring real-time international reporting to American audiences. CNN hired Ward in 2015 to extend its reach into international conflict zones. She was a logical choice, considering her willingness to brave theaters of war in search of exclusive stories. Twice she entered the muck of the Syrian civil war on what her boss called “unilateral” trips in the early 2010s.
In a segment on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” on Sunday, Ward noted that there was “no sense at the moment that Western journalists are being targeted.” Even so, she told host Brian Stelter that she’d taken safety precautions. “We’ve moved our live shot position, as you can probably see yet again, inside now because there was quite a lot of gunfire outside and we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves.”
Did you catch that bit of CNN programming, Sen. Cruz? Does it matter to you that the correspondent you’re cheap-shotting risks her life in the course of her work?
And now for the irony: People like Cruz are wise to watch CNN’s well-funded, on-the-ground coverage of crises such as the one now unfolding in Kabul. It helps them sharpen their critiques of President Biden. They might consider how informed they would be if people like Ward weren’t risking their hides for the story. But they won’t.
