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CNN and the war: Your questions
By Tony Maddox
(CNN) -- Last week we asked for your opinions on CNN's coverage of the war in Iraq -- on television and the Internet -- and we had hundreds of e-mails. Every one of them is read, although we can't answer you all individually. Here are the main themes you raised. Q: CNN is too negative, reporting too much of the downside of the coalition campaign. A: CNN's role is to report what is going on the ground, not to reflect any particular viewpoint. It is in everyone's interest to fully understand what is taking place, something that is often hard to do and it is not our job to censor or promote any aspect of this war. CNN has built up a reputation for more than 20 years for objective, independent reporting. Q: CNN is a U.S. channel and should be "patriotic" when America is at war. A: CNN International may be part of an American company but it is not a network with a "patriotic" viewpoint. CNN is a truly global service and our mission is to report from all over the world with numerous language services offering a wide range of news and perspectives. CNN International is, as it sounds, an international channel that happens to have its headquarters in Atlanta and with major production centers in London, Hong Kong and Mexico City. It is an entirely separate channel from the CNN seen in the United States. Likewise the international edition of CNN.com is produced for an audience across the world. (About us) Q: CNN is too scared to question U.S. policy and has a pro-American bias. A: CNN absolutely does not have a pro-American bias. Our independence is the very core of what we do. Anyone who looks at our coverage will know that the U.S. government is subjected to the same journalistic scrutiny as any other. As an international news organization, reporting events and conflicts from all over the world, CNN has often been accused of being both pro and against many governments, including the U.S. Since the war in Iraq began, we have received e-mails from viewers from all sides of the political spectrum claiming that we are biased one way or another. It goes with the territory of delivering balanced news, reflecting various perspectives around the clock. It is integral to CNN's fundamental principles of fair unbiased news coverage that no third party, governmental or otherwise, has any bearing on our output. Q: Your pictures from Iraq are too tame. The war is horrible and pictures should convey this. A: Sometimes we make judgements based on editorial policy and integrity and do not show unnecessary death and destruction, particularly images of people that are easily identifiable. But we do not intend to sanitize the news. CNN International correspondents risk their lives to show the truth where every word and image is chosen to ensure accuracy. Q: Why do you cover anti-war demonstrations instead of spending more time on the atrocities of Saddam Hussein? A: We have covered both these stories. We follow all the events in the news agenda we see as appropriate to our audience around the world. Q: Is your claim to be a "trusted" news source jeopardized by having your reporters "embedded" with the coalition military? A: CNN's reputation as a trustworthy news organization is in no way compromised by military embedding which enables journalists to report a story from the front lines of the fighting. These reports form only part of our coverage and are balanced by a full complement of staff reporting the war from every possible aspect. Q: How can CNN fully cover the war when you do not have reporters in Baghdad? A: We are broadcasting live pictures through various trusted sources from Baghdad and have live reports from contacts based there. We also have numerous reporters throughout Iraq and more than 200 people working in the Gulf region. We regret that the Iraqi authorities ordered our team out of Baghdad, where we have had a bureau for more than 10 years. We look forward to the opportunity to return to continue our reporting from inside the city Q: There can't be enough news from the war to warrant 24-hour coverage. Why don't you tell us what else is going on in the world? A: This is a huge story with massive global ramifications, but if you look at our coverage you'll see we are reporting other stories. Q: Why do you show pictures of Iraqi POWs but not U.S. POWs? A: This isn't true. We initially showed images of both U.S. and Iraqi POWs. We showed certain images that are newsworthy since, as journalists, it is our responsibility to report what we know as fully and fairly as possible. Q: If you are impartial, why do some of your broadcasters refer to "us" and "we" when talking about the war? A: This is not the norm. "We" is only something that has been heard on CNN International when reporters have come under fire, an occasion when they understandably refer to themselves as part of a group and hence use "us" or "we." Q: Why did you give so much airtime to Peter Arnett? A: Peter Arnett was briefly part of the news agenda and we covered the story. But we did not spend a disproportionate amount of time on it. Q: Why doesn't CNN stream the channel on the Web? I subscribe to CNN video but want to watch the channel, not just selected clips? A: CNN.com cannot have a constant live stream of the channel because of our agreements with other broadcasters. But we do show as much video as we can on the Internet -- the most important and interesting video reports from the front lines in Iraq and from other stories around the world. We also have live streams of important news events.
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