CNN's Nic Robertson Tears Into Fox News For Saying Libyans Used Him As Human Shield (VIDEO)

A senior reporter for CNN slammed Fox News for suggesting that he and other reporters who were given a tour of Muammar Gaddafi's compound in Libya were used as human shields by the Libyan government.

Fox News' defense correspondent, Jennifer Griffin, reported on Monday that the British army had been due to fire seven missiles at Gaddafi's compound. But the attack was held off, she said, because Libya had brought journalists from CNN, Reuters, the AP, the Times of London and other news outlets to the compound for what, in the government's words, was a press tour. According to Griffin, the actual reason for bringing the journalists to the compound was to "effectively use them as human shields."

Speaking to Fox News' John Roberts, Griffin said that Fox News had kept its correspondent in the region, Steve Harrigan, away from the tour because the network was "concerned they could be used as human shields."

In an interview with Wolf Blitzer later on Monday, CNN's senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, who was one of the reporters on the tour, lashed out at Fox News. He called the report "outrageous and absolutely hypocritical," and said that, when you come to somewhere like Libya, you expect lies and deceit from the dictatorship here. You don't expect it from the other journalists."

He said that Fox News had in fact sent a non-editorial, non-technical member of its team to the tour. And he had harsh words for Harrigan himself. "If they had actually been there, Steve Harrigan the correspondent here is somebody I have known for many years, I see him more times at breakfast than I see him out on trips with government officials here," he said. "...We very rarely see the Fox News team..if I sound angry, it's because I am."

Watch:

Watch Griffin's report:

Comments

[AcutelyAware]

03:14 AM on 03/25/2011

I watch FOX News and radio talk to know how the enemy thinks.
The issue isn't this one misrepresentation but their patterns.
The Psychology of their dis-information campaign equates to a powerful conditioning technique I'll label as SOCIAL ENGINEERING.
To those that may not be familiar there was advertising conducted in movie theaters whereas milli-second flashes were superimposed onto the screen. Images of a beverage and popcorn induced patrons to flock to the refreshment stands. This programming technique was replicated with sales increasing over 60%. The FTC (?) banned this practice, however now only applies to sales of products. The background music in department stores use subliminal messages such as "shop-lifting costs everyone". In manufacturing it has been used to increase production.
And now the grandest revelation: Political Ads use it to influence your vote.
Rupert Murdoch's media machine uses it to influence opinions, behavior, and indirectly for sales (if you are a god fearing patriot you will support FOX sponsors).

Excuse me for straying too far away from this one reported incident in the article above -- but it will escalate to the point of no return if this practice is not exposed and squelched by appropriate regulation.

[kinenbi]

05:26 PM on 03/24/2011

I'm so happy that someone called out Faux News. So happy.

[pakaal]

04:51 PM on 03/24/2011

Oops, Fox couldn't get the scoop, so they went to Plan B: trash those who scooped them. Dirty journalism.

[Terry DR]

05:51 PM on 03/24/2011

You forgot scooped because he was reporting from hi balcony. Now thats journalism. lol

[Terry DR]

05:51 PM on 03/24/2011

*his

[vaf112675]

03:06 PM on 03/24/2011

How in heaven's name does Fox News still function?

Oh, I know, it's because gullible conservatives still tune in to watch the made up news.

[fairandbalanced100]

10:19 PM on 03/24/2011

There are pretty many gullible Republican fools that watch Fox .
Most don't care that it's just a bunch of propaganda & lies ,
since it agrees with their warped views , but some are gullible
enough to believe their lies & don't watch real news to know what
the real news is.

[pinkpandaparade]

02:39 PM on 03/24/2011

Daily Show coverage on this was fantastic.

[beebster]

01:57 PM on 03/24/2011

I always love to see fox called out on their lies and propaganda

[ambigon]

01:56 PM on 03/24/2011

I believe that the main function of Fox News is to appeal to its viewer's need for the world to be as they have learned it is, with easy to identify good guys and bad guys and a narrative this is reassuring and easy to get your head around. Since the world is nothing like this, it requires constant work and reinforcement to maintain a world view.

[fairandbalanced100]

10:22 PM on 03/24/2011

Fox news main function is to lie for Republicans to get them elected
& make up bad lies about Democrats , like Obama , to make it hard for them
to get re-elected.

[cureyourosity]

01:44 PM on 03/24/2011

BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!

[ernsign]

01:39 PM on 03/24/2011

I especially love the part about the Fox news reporter being more frequently seen at breakfast than out in the field. So symbolic of Fox News. Why bother going out in the field, Fox News is going to lie anyway...

[fairandbalanced100]

10:24 PM on 03/24/2011

Yea, Fox news makes up their own version of the news anyway.
They don't let facts get in the way of their propaganda.

[stevnjessie1]

11:49 AM on 03/24/2011

I've always pondered if Fox News had a foreign correspondance? It seems like an oxymoron. I am satisfied in knowing that: no, they don't.

[dailyllamak0b1r0]

11:40 AM on 03/24/2011

It's getting to a point when you can't trust even the BBC so we're left with Al-jazeera for integrity?

[shelagh63]

03:16 PM on 03/24/2011

Ask Bobby Sand's family about trusting the BBC.

[dailyllamak0b1r0]

11:36 AM on 03/24/2011

I never watch FoxNews and I hope that this will encourage others to NEVER watch it again either!

[fairandbalanced100]

10:27 PM on 03/24/2011

I watched Fox news a little, but they lied so much & were so prejudiced against Democrats,
I got tired of it. I still see highlights of Fox news liars, like Beck , on other shows , that
catch Fox news lying on a regular basis.

[gravityhunter]

11:35 AM on 03/24/2011

"Why yes Mr. Gaddafi, thats right 'ol chap, we'll be bombing you and your friends at your compound this coming monday at exactly 6.00 am......please, do be ready"........

[pakaal]

04:50 PM on 03/24/2011

Excellent point, not widely commented on. Fanned.

[showerpoet]

11:05 AM on 03/24/2011

I watch Fox News for the same reason that, as a Jew, I learned German when I was a kid.

[dailyllamak0b1r0]

11:44 AM on 03/24/2011

I said that I never watch Fox News but this makes me wonder if I must do so for just his very reasoning!

[jbh2009]

01:34 PM on 03/24/2011

ahh the new civility - Hyperbole at it's worst

[PolitiConservative]

11:00 AM on 03/24/2011

I don't get this guys anger. Isn't it reasonable to believe that they may have been so used?

[Glenna Jones-Kachtik]

11:15 AM on 03/24/2011

Yeah, I guess if you are in your safe cushy arm chair in the US & propped back watching FOX Fair & Balanced you could actually believe they could be so used.... BUT this guy is out there in the trenches. His butt is literally on the line. Perhaps one should believe the guy who is actually there instead of an agency known for manufacturing the news.

[discouragerofhesitancy]

12:45 PM on 03/24/2011

Thank You.

[jbh2009]

01:35 PM on 03/24/2011

A guided tour by government minders....not in the trenches

[MainSpark]

01:19 PM on 03/24/2011

"Isn't it reasonable to believe that they may have been so used?"

You can believe any scenario you choose, reasonable or not!

You could make a claim that the journalists were there for a luncheon date. That's not unreasonable, is it? It's not true, but you can believe it, if you so choose.

It all comes down to trust. Why wouldn't you trust the word of the man who as actually there, in Libya, as opposed to someone who was sitting at a desk in the U.S.?

What I don't get is why viewers of Fox "News" are so uncritical of the "product" which they, Fox, term "news." Is it out of some misguided loyalty? Is it due to intellectual laziness, or lack of curiosity?

[PolitiConservative]

03:02 PM on 03/24/2011

I don't see this as a matter of trust. Who can know the Libyans' motives? I believe the correspondent said, "T]actual reason for bringing the journalists to the compound was to "effectively use them as human shields." Intent is a state-of-mind issue and cannot be proven with certainty absent someone saying what's actually on their mind.

As for the tired old "Fox News is for the stupid" meme, it's just silly.