TAPPED Out

Dateline: March 7, 2005 7:38 PM Eastern

Well, after going thru the entire day angry at what Garance has published, I've come to the conclusion it is her big loss.

You see, instead of looking for the boogy man under the bed and twisting the story to fit her vision of life -"right wing operatives take down 2nd liberal media figure" -- she lost the truth and the simple story easongate.com was.

It is a story of citizens outraged by a highly prominent CNN executive who declared that the US Military had declared open season on journalists. No facts to support it, just a statment whispered 3 different times in 3 different countries.

It's not a "right" story or a "left" story. It's a story about 150,000 young men and women who are black, white, hispanic, asian, republicans, democrats, independents, gay and straight and perhaps socialists who are sacrificing life and limb for the current Commander in Chief (doesn't matter if we agree or disagree with him -- they are there dying) -- and they have been accused of nothing short of murder....

Now I don't think it matters what side of the spectrum you are on. Those comments if true should anger you and you should be demanding an investigation as Rep. Barney Frank and Sen Dodd did.

Or if not true you should be demanding an apology immediately as www.easongate.com did, because you see, those kinds of statements could get some of the above right, left, black, white, straight, gay AMERICAN young kids killed.

This is a story about citizens being outraged and demanding accountability by those in the MSM.

This is a story about citizens coming together to defend those who are defending us.

This is not a story about right wing political operatives causing a sneak attack againist the opposition, as the story says. Or a smear attack as KOS and his followers did.

It's about regular people like you and like me tiring of unsupported lies and bias against our brothers, sisters, daughters, mothers and fathers -- the all volunteer military.

Kind of like the Orange Revolution, or the Cedar Revolution or the Iraqi vote of 1/30/05.

We're damned tired of being used, abused and lied to and we stood our ground -- pure and simple.

The article is spun of whole cloth by a person with a particular agenda who wants you to see only her vision -- and then the facts are only partial facts -- the truth of the story, the simplicity of the story was left on the cutting room floor.

It's a shame -- could have been a good story about the citizen uprisings in this country.

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TAPPED weighs in on Easongate

Dateline: March 7, 2005 10:54 AM Eastern

The American Prospect weighs in on Easongate in an article titled Blogged Down, by Garance Franke-Ruta. Only one word is fit to descibe this article:

Predictable

Here is my email response to Garance Franke-Ruta:

Well, Garance, I cannot say I am surprised by the article in The American Prospect.

I never expected to be treated fairly by your magazine, and the portrayal of Easongate was about what I expected. Even so, I decided to grant you the interview in the hope you may actually listen to the remarkable story of the creation of our site.

It really is a shame TAP cannot objectively report about the formation of Easongate. We are accused of acting in a political manner. Mike Krempasky and Lashawn Barber both came aboard two days prior to Eason's resignation - 4 days after the formation of Easongate - and their involvement in the decision making was limited to some posts and advice on the site™s operations. But TAP exaggerates their influence and downplays the other members of the group. Your depiction of us as "right-wing" bloggers is unfair and oh-so-predictable, it is laughable. Heavens forbid we could be called citizens disgusted by the attacks Eason Jordan had made (numerous times) on American soldiers.

I was very honest with you. Speaking to you on the phone, you seem like a very nice person. It is a shame you or your editor had to distort the formation of Easongate to fit your preconceived notions of a political hit machine. If this was your editor's doing, then you should be ashamed to put your name over this piece.

Liberals wonder why those to the right of them see media bias. The answer is simple, as your article quite clearly demonstrates. The media talks about the wonders of editorial oversight. At least when you read my work, you know it is my own, and not the words and distortions from an editor on high.

Kindest Regards,

Bill Roggio

the fourth rail (http://billroggio.com)

Update:

Blackfive weighs in at his site, and rightly notes that Cheryl was not brought in by him. In fact, Cheryl contacted me the Friday I posted at The Fourth Rail asking for assistance. That she knew Matt was merely a coincidence.

Cheryl eloquently posts her first article at Easongate to respond to Garance's hit piece.

Mike Krempasky replies at Redstate and addresses Garances obvious smears.

Brian Scott replies as well at The Blue States Conservatives.

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The Future of Easongate and a New Beginning

Dateline: February 17, 2005 5:15 PM Eastern

While the Staff of Easongate would have preferred the release of the tape to fully air all concerns, we believe Eason Jordan's resignation is an admission of guilt and he has been properly disciplined by stepping down from his responsibilities at CNN. We will continue to follow various stories directly related to Easongate, however the pursuit of the tape will occur elsewhere.

The issue of the tape remains a serious impediment to getting to the bottom of this story. Eason Jordan's resignation did not clear up the serious allegations of United States military personnel intentionally targeting journalists. The media has expressed no interest whatsoever to discover the contents of the tape, and this is both curious and disturbing. Instead of addressing the serious charges made against our troops at Davos and the reaction of those in attendance, and the wider implications of these statements, the media has focused their ire and attention on bloggers who worked hard to break this story and gain traction in the mainstream media.

The tape will answer all outstanding questions. As the media will not fulfill their responsibilities to follow this story to its conclusion, several members of the Easongate.com Staff have organized a new blog called War, Truth and Videotape. This blog is devoted to the release of the videotape in order to obtain the truth of exactly what was said and done at Davos. We will investigate this issue further, search for other attendees of the forum, keep the public apprised of the situation and provide analysis and opinion. War, Truth and Videotape will have tools available for the public to express their displeasure with the current situation, including a petition, and forms to mail your Congressional Representatives, and the sponsors of CNN and the World Economic Forum. These tools are still in development so please be patient and keep checking back with us.

Please join us in this fight for the truth about what occurred at Davos at War, Truth and Videotape.

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A Retraction to "A conflict of Interest?" & "An Eason Jordan Timeline of Events"

Dateline: February 16, 2005 7:40 PM Eastern

I am issuing a retraction to the post "A conflict of Interest?", written about Bret Stephen's reported conflict of interest with the World Economic Forum. I did not contact Mr. Stephens to follow up on this story and reported another blogger's work as fact. It has come to light that the information reported in this post is innacurrate.

My apologies to Mr. Stephens.

Update: 02/16/05 Certain items listed under Witness#9/Problem: are innacurrate and have been crossed out from the extended timeline. - Brian Scott

My apologies to Mr. Stephens as well.

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Easongate on the Radio, Round 6

Dateline: February 15, 2005 9:11 AM Eastern

I will appear on "The Kevin McCullough Show" at 1:20 PM Eastern today to talk about the Eason Jordan blog swarm. You can listen to the live audio stream here. The show can be heard in the following markets:

AM 570 WMCA - New York City * Connecticut * Rhode Island
AM 970 WWDJ - New York * New Jersey * Pennsylvania * Delaware

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Tonight on the MSM

Dateline: February 15, 2005 2:25 AM Eastern

Glenn Reynolds has an Easongate link roundup of Monday evening's talk shows, including a panel at Kudlow & Company, Rony Abovitz's appearance on The O'Reily Factor, and a discussion at Hannity & Colmes. Money quote from Bob Beckel (transcript here):

BECKEL: And we allowed bloggers, who have no rules of engagement except to shoot first and ask questions later, to rule journalism.

Glenn also links to an article by Jack Shafer of Slate, who states Eason Jordan should have been fired, and inquires about the tape.

Hugh Hewitt was interviewed by the BBC's Judy Swallow. Hugh states the focus was the blogger's credibility, not the assualt on our military, Eason Jordan's remarks, the media's intransigence in investigating or the current cover up of a tape.

"Once again the refrain from old media is not to focus on what Jordan said in Davos --or in Portugal-- but on the credentials or lack thereof of the bloggers."

Dan Abram's of MSMBC fears the blogger, not the lack of concern of the media about what really happened at Davos:

"This makes me nervous." "This is blogger editorialist demanding action based on comments that haven't even been verified."

Some people are concerned that a videotape of the event exists, and the media as a whole is disinterested. The media's need to attack bloggers who pursue the truth makes many of us us nervous. The lack of integrity from the media makes us nervous. Their willingness to casually accept, without evidence, that our soldiers intentionally target journalists makes us angry.

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The Cover Up

Dateline: February 14, 2005 7:23 PM Eastern

More video, courtesy of Trey from Jackson's Junction. CNN runs two segments, Bitten by Blogs and Inside the Blogs and looks at blogs and the Eason Jordan affair. CNN quotes a blog called Viewpoint to promote the meme that Easongate was "a successfully executed witch-hunt". My apologies to David of Viewpoint, but I've never heard of your site, and CNN used your post to promote their predetermined notion of a blogospheric lynch mob. You have been used by CNN as the conservative voice to criticise those who seek the truth. Perhaps if CNN wanted to cover Easongate, they might want to go to, oh I don't know, a blog called Easongate?

CNN did take the time to instruct viewers on how to donate to the Democratic National Committee via Daily Kos' website (this was edited out of this clip).

When covering Easongate, there was no mention of the tape that has been suppressed and that both CNN and Eason Jordan have declined to ask for the tape from the WEF. Instead of a "witch-hunt", perhaps CNN should be discussing a cover up.

That's OK, because if the media will not ask for the tape, we will. Very soon, in fact.

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Misguided parenting and the MSM

Dateline: February 14, 2005 4:33 PM Eastern

I've been a parent for 4 years now. So I know what I'm talking about when I make this analogy.

I've met parents that have children who, in their eyes, can do no wrong. They are quick to defend their delinquent kid without knowing the circumstances and sometimes go so far as to blame others for provoking the bad behavior. Their feelings for their child cloud their sensibilities and better judgment in almost any given situation. Now it appears as though the MSM is doing the same thing with the Eason Jordan story.

Today, the WSJ (and others) has come to the defense of Mr. Jordan and claims that the blogoshpere is out of line.

That may be old-fashioned damage control. But it does not speak well of CNN that it apparently allowed itself to be stampeded by this Internet and talk-show crew. Of course the network must be responsive to its audience and ratings. But it has other obligations, too, chief among them to show the good judgment and sense of proportion that distinguishes professional journalism from the enthusiasms and vendettas of amateurs.

No doubt this point of view will get us described as part of the "mainstream media." But we'll take that as a compliment since we've long believed that these columns do in fact represent the American mainstream. We hope readers buy our newspaper because we make grown-up decisions about what is newsworthy, and what isn't.

Those who believe we have gone to far seem to ignore the fact that we never asked for Eason's resignation had he been innocent. We asked for his resignation if indeed the reports of his statements were true. Since we have no tape, only a myriad of witnesses, we can only assume his quitting is an admission of guilt.

If you ask me It is the MSM that lacks good judgment and an enthusiasm for the truth. Eason's offense of slandering our troops was first buried by the MSM and now defended just like a misguided mother. Shame on them.

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Easongate on the Radio, Round 5

Dateline: February 14, 2005 10:23 AM Eastern

I will be on "The Kevin McCullough Show" at 1:20 PM Eastern today to discuss the status of the Eason Jordan affair and the open question of an outstanding videotape from the WEF. You can listen to the live audio stream here. The show can be heard in the following markets:

AM 570 WMCA - New York City * Connecticut * Rhode Island
AM 970 WWDJ - New York * New Jersey * Pennsylvania * Delaware

Kevin McCullough has been following this story closely and has blogged about it as well at Crosswalk.com. From his latest post on the media campaign against bloggers and the importance of blogs:

The point being that journalists should see themselves as the agitators that the Constitution guaranteed the protection of. To probe, question, and dig - in other words to find the facts - are what the Constitution wished to protect. The fact that the MSM now often times seems more pre-occupied with "self-protection" as opposed to the "public's right to know" is what has caused the immense interest in these little web-logs....

For the New York Times, even the establishment at the WSJ or any other media to chirp, demean or otherwise attempt to discredit citizen journalism only serves to reinforce its need to exist - and simply motivates its purveyors to work harder, better, and even more quickly to fact-check the MSM in to oblivion.

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A Tempest, but not in a Teacup

Dateline: February 14, 2005 12:34 AM Eastern

The media has accepted the resignation of Eason Jordan without question, and has portrayed the pursuit of the truth by bloggers as a lynch mob with a political agenda. David Bauder's Associated Press account unquestioningly accepts Eason Jordan's statement that he "quickly backed off the remarks". Several in attendance have stated otherwise.

The facts, many of which the media are wholly ignoring, should be remembered before Mr. Jordan's statements are accepted without criticism.

· Eason Jordan has a history of accusing American soldiers of killing and torturing journalists without providing evidence.
· Every eyewitness on record from the Davos conference, including a U.S. Congressman and U.S. Senator, confirmed that Eason Jordan did in fact state journalists were intentionally targeted by the U.S. military.
· Eason Jordan did not provide any evidence to support his charges, and has not to this day.
· The disagreements between eyewitnesses are: Mr. Jordan's meaning behind "targeting"; and at what point he backed off the statements - did he do so on his own or after pressured.
· Multiple Eyewitnesses, including Senator Chris Dodd, stated he did not back off his slanderous remarks until Congressman Frank pressed the issue.
· To this day Eason Jordan has not demanded the release of the tape, despite his influence at the WEF as well as CNN's unique and powerful presence in the international media community.
· A tape still exists and can easily confirm the reported eyewitness accounts.
· CNN and the traditional media have not sought the tape to clarify what actually happened at Davos.

Where are the guardians of the truth? Make no mistake, if there were evidence that existed that could bring down an important and powerful politician, there would be reporters tripping all over each other, nay elbows flying, to be the first to get their hands on it. The repeated calls for the truth, the screams for blood, would haunt the airwaves and front pages of news and editorial pages across the land. When a prince of the media is purported to have slandered American troops without cause, the guardians of the truth impugn bloggers as pursuing a witch-hunt.

I am of the belief that the content of this tape is even worse than expected. The accounts of Mr. Jordan's reactions are likely to be correct; but the damning information may be the reaction of the audience. If the audience reaction is as anti-American as Davos attendee Rony Abovitz described, the American public may be quite upset indeed with Eason Jordan, and by default, CNN for knowingly employing a person that recklessly encourages such anti-American sentiment. The international media's biases poke though in written news articles, but such an open display, on videotape, may even shock many Americans not inclined to support the war in Iraq. Of course all of this is conjecture, we cannot know for sure unless the tape is released.

The American people have a right to know the truth about those who manage influential and powerful media entities. These men and women exercise the power to shape and control the news and public perception. Companies that advertise on these news services should also be concerned with who they sponsor. Are you comfortable patronizing outlets that sanction employees who knowingly assault the honor of our brave servicemen?

The tape must be released to shed light on what really happened in Davos. Powerful news organizations are either indifferent or hostile to taking up this cause, and have directed their contempt towards bloggers. Perhaps it is time for the people, and bloggers, to do demand the release of the tape.

The tempest still rages.

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