CNN Flub Gets Them Booted From Iran

[astrosfan90]

Seems kinda typical of CNN's sloppyness. Yet another sign of their decline, it seems.


*link*

Iran on Monday banned CNN journalists from working there after the broadcaster misquoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Tehran wanted nuclear weapons.

CNN's simultaneous translation of Ahmadinejad's lengthy news conference on Saturday included the phrase "the use of nuclear weapons is Iran's right".

In fact, what the Iranian president said was that "Iran has the right to nuclear energy," the official IRNA news agency reported. CNN later clarified in an apology on Sunday night.

Iran denies any intention of seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants atomic technology merely for the generation of electricity.

Mohammad Hossein Khoshvaght, director of foreign media at Iran's Culture and Islamic Guidance Ministry, welcomed CNN's apology.

"But so far it's not clear whether it was something pre-planned or a mistake," he told state television. "Therefore, we will ban its activities (in Iran) for the timebeing."

He said a restoration of CNN's right to work in Iran would depend on an assessment of the broadcaster's future coverage of the Islamic state.

CNN does not have a permanent bureau in Iran but a local journalist is a contributor to the network and visiting correspondents are occasionally given permission to enter the country on short assignments.

The ban came as CNN's Iranian-born chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour was in Iran to report on the nuclear issue.

 

[loup garou]

Not only are you a day late, but a dollar short in that Iran has readmitted CNN today.

 

[astrosfan90]

Originally posted by: loup garou
Not only are you a day late, but a dollar short in that Iran has readmitted CNN today.

I blame the 3-day weekend for making me slow on the draw.

Still kinda a major oopsie. Not like they were talking about the weather. Considering CNN likes to claim that world leaders watch their news coverage to keep up to date on things around the world, a mistake like this one in the era of instant diplomacy can be a very major one. Unacceptable, really.