CNN correspondent Nic Robertson is rejecting a Fox News report that he and other journalists were used as human shields by Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi, reports CNN.com.
The report said a planned British missile attack on one of Qaddafi’s compounds was called off after it was learned that CNN and other journalists were brought to the site.
"To say it was a human shield is nuts," Robertson said, according to CNN.com. "I expect lies from the government here. I don’t expect it from other journalists. It’s frankly incredibly disappointing."
But Robertson said the report was "outrageous and hypocritical," and that the report from Fox left out the fact that a Fox staffer was among the journalists on the trip. Robertson said the group was rushed through the trip by their minders.
One of Fox’s writers later clarified the story, saying that she hadn’t been aware that a Fox team member had been on the trip.
This idiot says nothing that contradicts the story Fox News reported (other than getting all hung up on whether or not someone from Fox News was present). The fact that they were free to leave does not mean they were not used to deter a military strike. It was also not necessary for them to be there for an extended period of time (as he seems to imply) to deter a military strike. All that was necessary was for the coalition forces to learn that journalist had traveled to the site or were on their way to the site. The mere possibility that they could be present at the time of a strike was all that was required to decrease the possibility of a strike. The CNN reporter does not contradict that they were invited to go to the site by the Libyan leadership and that the coalition in fact had to call off a strike due to their possible presence there. So how did Fox News “lie” in reporting that they were used as shields? Either he is, as I said earlier, an idiot, or he is the one who is lying. My guess is it is a combination of both coupled with jealousy that more people watch Fox News than his lousy broadcast.
KM -guess you’ve never been in a bang bang situation in the middle east. We’ll I have and as much as I dislike Robertson’s style of reporting (think -only correspondent allowed in Bagdad before invasion)he is spot on @Fox. Some correspondents/camera crews would be scared to death to go outside the Comodore hotel in Beirut in the 80’s– I know because I had to fire them for being there and not getting the story first hand. Fox should do the same with there people. Shame on them for sending a clueless person to cover the story – talk about being thrown under the bus.
You’re right, hampton6975. I’ve never been in such a bang bang situation. I give tons of credit to those journalists who do go into harms way to get a story. I wouldn’t even be in the hotel there, let alone be out in the field. Perhaps what the CNN reporter says about the one from fox not getting out into the field enough is true… I don’t know. It’s fine for him to question that. Where he goes wrong is stating as fact that Fox news is lying about the journalists being used as shields by the Libyan leadership. It would even be fine for Robertson to state that he didn’t think they were used in that way. He loses credibility though, when it seems all he wants to do is discredit his competition by saying they lied and then not backing that up with any facts.