I know it's the
Independent, but Rupert
Cornwell, their Washington correspondent, has a real hooter today,
US accused of plan to muzzle al-Jazeera through privatisation.
America and its key ally Saudi Arabia are being accused
of quietly seeking to muzzle al-Jazeera, the Arab satellite news
station that has often incurred Washington's ire for its coverage
of Iraq and President George Bush's "war on terror".
Accused by administration sources? Staff on the Hill? Saudi
officials? Independent observers? Al-Jazeera employees? NGO
contacts? Terrorists? Georgetown party-goers? Men in black?
There's not one word in the article indicating from where this
story comes. In fact, there's no further mention of the charges,
except for two sentences: 'US officials reject all charges of
meddling. Nonetheless, such suspicions are inevitable.'
Here we go again: throwing out charges with nothing to back them
up, as
Capt.
Ed describes it. This time, 'salivating morons' might fit,
Cornwell, that is.
Ace has it right: 'Reporters are supposed to report verifiable, or
at least confirmed, facts. They are not supposed to traffic in
ludicrous Al Jazeera level conspiracy theories ...' (
Let's Be Honest: We're All A
Bunch of "Salivating Morons").