A CNN correspondent has angrily denied a Fox News report that he and other journalists were used by the Libyan government as human shields against an attack on Moammar Gadhafi's compound.
“ Fox News' Jennifer Griffin reported Monday that the British military had to call off a mission on the Libyan ruler's compound because journalists had been taken there on a trip to view earlier bomb damage. CNN's Nick Robertson, who was part of the CNN crew cited in the Fox story, shot back on the air Monday night, calling the allegation "outrageous and absolutely hypocritical."
"To say it was a human shield is nuts," Robertson said on Wolf Blitzer's primetime CNN show. "This allegation is outrageous and it's absolutely hypocritical. You know, 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." In addition, Robertson said, Fox sent a security guard with a camera on the same trip — a detail that was omitted from the Fox report.”
Oops! Fox News filed a false report. That’s not the first time that’s happened, nor will it be the last.
“Fox reporter Griffin admitted later to incorrectly having written that no Fox News representatives had gone on the reporting trip.”
Fox’s war correspondent isn’t exactly making his presence known while covering the crisis.
“As for Harrigan, Fox's war correspondent in Libya, Robertson said he has rarely seen him leave his hotel room.
"I don't know who he's talking to here to pick up and find out what the story is," Robertson said. "I see him more times at breakfast than I see him out on trips with government officials here."
One last thought, it’s not the best arrangement to have the bad guys give you a tour, but it’s better than having them hand over a propaganda film and scripts to read. At least, the reporters can see what’s happening on the ground. Beats sitting in a motel room.
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