Jessica Yellin 180°

Well, that didn't take long.

Today on the network's website, there's a noticeably terse statement from CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin attempting to, ahem, "clarify" her admission, made a couple of nights ago on Anderson Cooper 360°, that during the run-up to the Iraq war, she was pressured into altering or killing stories that were critical of the White House.

Yellin makes a point to reassure viewers that she wasn't at CNN back in 2003 -- she was a pentagon reporter for MSNBC at the time -- then flips a pretty sharp U-turn from her previous claim:

"Let me say: No, senior corporate leadership never asked me to take out a line in a script or re-write an anchor intro. I did not mean to leave the impression that corporate executives were interfering in my daily work; my interaction was with senior producers. What was clear to me is that many people running the broadcasts wanted coverage that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the country at the time. It was clear to me they wanted their coverage to reflect the mood of the country."

The statement ends, amusingly, with Yellin saying, "And now I'm going back to work covering the Puerto Rico primary from San Juan."

From which I'll never return.

What makes Jessica Yellin's "clarification" so much fun is that you can almost see the gun being pointed at her head by CNN management as you read her words. She may as well be staring nervously through a crack in the doorway, telling the cop who just pulled up, "Oh no officer, I was a little upset when I made that phone call. There's nothing wrong. Everything's fine in here." Yellin hopes to deflect attention away from the executives who truly call the shots and set the mood in today's newsrooms and onto the mid-level pawns who are in constant and direct contact with her on a daily basis -- the problem of course being that edicts roll down from the top; who the hell do you think is making it clear to the senior producers the direction the broadcasts need to be going in?

Without realizing it, Yellin may have just helped to illustrate a pretty repugnant truism within the rubric of corporate journalism these days: Everything seems designed to insulate the people at the top, protecting them from exposure to accountability. The only factor that truly has the ability to affect the lives of the executives in the adminisphere or their corporate overlords is the ratings. The numbers are the end that will always justify the means; what those means may be is irrelevant -- not when ad revenue is at stake. If you think it's something bordering on tragic that the hierarchy within most modern news operations works like the Mafia -- or maybe Congress -- you're right.

For just a moment, Jessica Yellin spoke her mind and pulled back the curtain to reveal the reality of what went on within America's spineless news media during the rush to war -- then thought the better of it and either through subtle coercion or with the unfortunate knowledge that her career may be on the line, "corrected" herself.

Regardless, anyone with a brain knew the truth all along anyway -- and still does.

(By the way, the link to Yellin's statement was sent to me by a senior producer within CNN whom I've never met. Gotta love that.)

Follow Chez Pazienza on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chezpazienza

Comments

[pmag88]

Where in the world is Aaron Brown and who in the world is Campbell Brown?

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8DKOF183&show_article=1

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6462219.html

I remember, shortly before Aaron Brown got the axe, he made a comment that he had a lot of say as to what actually made it on the air during a given show, etc. This was during a time when the media was being scrutinized for biased coverage. Shortly after that he vanished, never to be heard from again.

I will give Campbell the benefit of the doubt even through her hubby is a republican operative and strategist for fox news. But, if as the election nears, we notice a distinct spin to her coverage which favors McCain and unfairly disparages Obama, then I think we can look at this a bit differently.

[pmag88]

Yeah. I wouldn't lose much hope over this. The media is going to have to deal with the changes that are coming and the more do to try and intimidate their talent, or impress upon the public the futility of demanding honesty and accountability, the worse it's going to be when the reforms come.

I hate to get ugly about it, but there are some super stupid MF's working behind the scenes here.

[nellie]

Does CNN really think this sudden reversal on the part of Yellin is going to make them look any better? Probably not. It's her punishment for straying off the script.

[duckfan00]

We all have certain moments of clarity where we say what we truly feel. It is a shame that the CNN execs got to her and shut her up. This is a big story that needs to be told. She was telling the truth with and it just isn't about MSNBC. These network execs were tripping over themselves to get their 'embedded' journalists on the air until the reality of the war hit and some were either killed or injured.

[standforpeace]

Because if she is telling the truth about MSNBC then it's a short leap to the conclusion that CNN must have been under the same pressure since they basically told the story in the same way as MSNBC. And so did the rest of the networks and cable news channels and the Times and the Post and... Hmm.

[JiminNC]

Yellin is a tool in the corporate tool chest and is wholly owned by CNN-TIME-WARNER. While she tried to pretend that such things only occurr at MSNBC, she realizes now (probably through a meeting with her owners) that she gave public and insider testimony to what we all suspected or knew. Now she is trying to put the proverbial toothpaste back into the proverbial tube. In this way, she hopes to extend the life of her CNN directed positive coverage of Hillary Clinton in Puerto Rico (as stated). I suspect that as soon as her usefullness is exhausted on the "Clinton NomiNee" campaign, she will be looking for work and hoping there will be an opening at the National Enquirer for a proven shill with no journalistic integrity.

[castrochavez08]

Great post Chez!

Years ago the National Lampoon had a cover featuring a nasty dude with a gun to the head of a cute dog with the caption, "If you don't buy this Magazine, We'll kill this dog"

I'm picturing CNN execs sitting down with Jessica, and her dog......

This also reminds me of the time Kyra Phillips behaved like a credible gutsy journalist during the worst of Hurricane Katrina for a few days. I was impressed.
Then one day they had some CNN "executive producer" riding shot gun on her program, and how things did change. It was sad, watching Kyra brought to heel.
Was it money, job advancement, fear of being fired, fear of a smear job? I don't pretend to know, but it was sure as hell evident that "corporate executives WERE interfering with her work".

CNN sucks, keep on exposing them Chez!!!!!

[vat6948]

Yellin is eye candy who tramps around, without a original thought in her head. The war in Iraq was cooked in the White House, and served by the press. No-one can put this toothpaste back in this tube.

[apoyo]

In other words, the higher ups at CNN killed her story.

The irony is that if they had left her words float in the air it would have been glossed over and few would have paid attention to them. Now her retraction becomes the story.

[SouthFloridaDem]

Jessica Yellin -- MY HERO! Until she wasn't. That thud you heard was my crest falling. I was so proud of her for telling it like it was, but when she basically recanted with her "clarification," I had to admit that she's still in the grip of the corporate headlock. Now, will anyone else have the courage to come forward and try to finish what Yellin started?

[walk0nwalls]

FUN DAYS IN CORPORATELAND KIDS

[jbatch]

Even her "clarrification" is damning. As you point out, the senior producers get their marching orders from the owners -- but the key is, either way, reporters and news shows were being pressured to conform to perceived public positions, not to report the news.

Either way, the MSM ends up as stenographers, lap dogs and cheerleaders, not honest, objective reporters of fact.

The press was given special protections in the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights, but those protections came with a codicil -- they were supposed to create an informed citizenry and serve as a check on power -- not as a megaphone for it.

[ProfessorDuh]

Right. There's no need to censor individual stories once you make it clear to the "journalists" what kind of "news" you want to see (i.e., propaganda), and what kind you don't want to see (i.e., the truth).

[WillSweet]

Yes. There really are no longer any national news agencies. They are all mostly involved in poropaganda and/or entertainment, It really is quite sad and I think they are rapidly destroying any credibility they have left.

[LittleSanityLeft]

A gaff in politics = telling the truth...confirmed

[VitaBrevis]

The MSM supported the war with their coverage and now they are selecting the next POTUS.
Just look folks, the primetime slots on Network TV are filled with such assanine drivel I can not believe it and the News shows are now NewsTainme­nt....grap­hics, music, next we will see dancing girls...we are being led down a path that scares the chit out of me.

Any one with a brain can see how America is being manipulated. There are few exceptions to the rule but for the most part the news in this country is a big fat joke.

It is all about the money!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

I wish the motives were so pure.

Its about Control at least as much.

[Soulsurfer]

Controlling the flow of money? Yep.

[JiminNC]

You are all correct in consideration that "money" is the measure of power and money is the chief tool of power.

[Witchitalineman]

I watched that moment with Yellin on CNN and was impressed with her straight forwardness. I take her at her word that at times she felt pressured. I hope she doesn't retract it by people at CNN giving her lesser assignments. I noticed the following evening she was in San Juan reporting and "goodie two shoes" Susan Malveaux (sp?) had replaced Yellin's mainland assignment or at least it appeared that way. Good for Yellin's honesty.

[Soulsurfer]

Lesser assignments? How about ever working in journalism in this country again? Ever hear of Greg Palast?