CNN Apologized to Sarah Palin But Won’t Apologize for Getting Boston Suspect Story Wrong

Last updated on April 24th, 2013 at 01:13 pm

CNN has shown their arrogance by getting the story about a suspect being arrested in the Boston Marathon wrong, adding a dash of racism, and refusing to apologize for their mistakes.

The struggling network started off on the wrong foot with a report that a suspect had been identified in the Boston Marathon bombing. Instead of trying to slow down and verify, CNN compounded their error when former Bush Homeland Security Advisor turned CNN employee Fran Townsend reported that an arrest had been made. John King adding the cherry on top to this sundae of failure by reporting that the potential suspect was a, “dark skinned individual.”

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All of these reports turned out to be completely wrong. A suspect has not been identified. Potential suspects had been identified. No one has been arrested, and law enforcement is looking for a white man, not a “dark skinned individual.”

After misleading the American people with completely wrong reporting, CNN responded by defending their reporting process, “CNN had three credible sources on both local and federal levels. Based on this information we reported our findings. As soon as our sources came to us with new information we adjusted our reporting.”

Get that? CNN did things the right way. They just got bad intel. This excuse is eerily reminiscent of how the Bush administration defended not finding WMDs in Iraq.

On the air, Wolf Blitzer offered up an excuse that could best be described as sh*t happens, “That’s what happens in these investigations. You get conflicting information, you go with what you have, presuming it’s accurate. If it’s not, you fix it, you move on.”

You fix it, you move on, and never apologize unless the person you offend happens to be Sarah Palin.

CNN issued a formal apology for playing the song Stupid Girls before a segment about Palin, but they will not apologize for getting one of the biggest stories so far in 2013 completely wrong.

This is also the same network that refused to apologize for their pro-rapist coverage of the Steubenville verdict.

CNN seems oblivious to the fact that they have destroyed their own credibility by being wrong, and refusing to apologize. We all make mistakes, but the mark of a reliable, trustworthy source is the ability to own up to and publicly apologize for the things we get wrong.

It’s all about trust, and there is no good reason to trust CNN’s reporting anymore.

Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and  Professional Memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association