from easonjordan.com
Former CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan has launched IraqSlogger.com as "the world's premier Iraq-focused information source" about Iraq with no "political slant." The site will include material from the U.S. mainstream media, Iraqi media, European and Arab media, government and military organizations, U.S. blogs (from left to right, including yesterday ETP subject Bill Roggio), Iraqi blogs (like IraqPundit), and translations of Iraqi news content, all of which is meant to provide the fullest possible picture of the situation in Iraq across the board and on an ongoing basis. It's a resource with incredible potential, one that's long over due and clearly welcome, particularly now when there is such a desire for answers about Iraq and what the future holds (as indicated by skyrocketing sales of the Iraq Study Group Report last week).
Jordan's choice of name, "IraqSlogger" was taken from a Donald Rumsfeld comment that the war was to be a "long, hard slog" (StuffHappenser.com is no doubt just around the corner). Jordan was formerly the chief news executive at CNN, but resigned in February 2005 after 23 years at the network in the wake of comments made at a conference in Davos, Switzerland, concerning the involvement of the U.S. military in several accidental journalist deaths. An ensuing blog-and-media pile-on caused him to resign so as not to further mire CNN in the scandal. Jordan is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Committee to Protect Journalists and co-founder of the Iraq News Safety Group, as well as an Emmy, Peabody and Headliner award winner. Since CNN, he founded Praedict, a news company focusing on global hotspots; IraqSlogger is the first of numerous planned news sites.
Since yesterday's announcement of the launch, conservative bloggers urged him to examine right-wing claims that the Associated Press was using an unconfirmed source in their stories (the AP stands by its stories). Jordan responded by inviting conservative blogger Michelle Malkin to accompany him to Iraq on IraqSlogger's dime; she accepted (which ignited further controversy in the liberal blogosphere). Not bad for one day out.
Yesterday Editor & Publisher published a detailed feature on IraqSlogger, detailing Jordan's plans.
Related on Malkin and the AP controversy:
Truth & Rumor In Iraq [ETP]
