Christiane Amanpour apparently bit off more than even her strong jaw could chew with her "God's Warriors" special that aired, beginning August 21, and "encored," in its triple entirety, many times since.
The crticism continues to cascade down on her, and her network, CNN. Reportedly, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is preparing a major factual refutation of the three-part special's basic premise, which is that there's not much difference among the "extremists" within Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.
Meanwhile, Newsday columnist James Pinkerton took note of controversy on September 4th:
Last month, many people thought that CNN went overboard on "neutrality" with its three-part special, "God's Warriors." Reporter Christiane Amanpour neatly divided her reporting into thirds, among Jews, Christians and Muslims. Yet, one watchdog group, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, called her reportage "one of the most grossly distorted programs" ever aired on TV. At a minimum, one can say that by rigidly assigning "equal time" to zealotry in all three faiths, she was imposing an artificial and misleading "fairness."
Parenthetically, in that same column, Pinkerton--who doubles as a panelist on Fox's "News Watch" show--takes a whack at MSNBC's Tucker Carlson. The column was a discussion of "virtue" in the media, and Pinkerton, while freely confessing his own failings (as we all are fallen), nonetheless took note that Carlson, the oldest living frat boy, was worse than most. Describing the "moral hazard" of TV--which is that those who are good at attracting attention are not always good, Pinkerton obvserved that the media is full of people for whom "modesty and decency are strangers." And then Pinkerton continued:
A case in point is MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, who on Aug. 28 bragged about a gay-bashing incident from his youth. Carlson will no doubt be doing penance before gay groups for years to come, but his chuckling recollections of his own thuggery provide a wide window into his true self. Yet, he's "good television," and so he still has a job.
So if Amanpour is going to be worked over by Jewish (and Christian) groups, expect Carlson to get some bashing by gay groups. And both Amanpour and Carlson ought to take lessons in fairness and civility.
