[An Open Letter to the Official-In-Charge of CNN]

nothostiletous

An Open Letter to the Official-In-Charge of CNN

To Whom It May Concern:

March 31， 2008

Dear Madam/Sir，

Credibility is the only key for every member of news media to accomplish wide public recognition. It is an intellectual asset wooed by every member of media. While the establishment and confirmation of such credibility is an accumulating and difficult process， the destruction of such is as easy as blowing a candle.

CNN was inaugurated in 1980. While it struck the media community with its coverage of the attempted assassination of President Reagon， CNN was not really seen as part of the main stream by the American public then. CNN failed to lift itself off from financial difficulty within the five years since its inception. Its audience share was among the lowest. The most outstanding feature of CNN was live coverage at the scene. However， in the Gulf War between 1990 and 1991， CNN allowed audience around the world to watch "Desert Shield"， a war raged by the Alliance troops with United States as the leader to fight Iraq. In August 1991， a coup d'etat broke out in Kremlin， at the time even the U.S. CIA received no advanced warning， but CNN was able to make the first presentation of the event to the world expeditiously. Since that time， CNN has achieved an outstanding reputation and confirmed its status as the only global TV news agency. It has then established an invaluable and hard-to-achieve level of credibility.

It is undeniable that journalists at CNN in general observe the most basic rules of news reporting， seeking for the truth and all the facts. However， regrettably， these rules seem to be applicable only to news stories about the Western countries. For news about China， the Chinese Communist Party or overseas ethnic Chinese， a double standard based on entrenched chauvinism would arise. Discrimination， prejudice and an anti-Chinese sentiment would then replace all ethic standards and rules of news reporting. CNN would adopt all means of distortion， stating inversely right into wrong ， mixing lies into truth， taking quotes out of context， defaming and making wrongful accusation， and even fabricating facts without basis to cover news in China and life of the overseas ethnic Chinese， and to tarnish and demonize China， people of China and the overseas Chinese.

On March 14， the "Tibetan Independents" provoked certain criminal elements to start a riot in the capital city Lhasa of the Tibetan Self-Autonomous Region of China. As it had done before， CNN did not shake off its attitude of being unfair and non-objective in covering news of China. In order to prove its intention of portraying "Tibetans are being persecuted"， CNN first broadcast non-stop news stories about "Tibetans assaulting Chinese" and "Tibetans burning down shops owned by the Chinese". CNN unreasonably tried to separate the Tibetan compatriots from the Great China Family of 56 ethnic groups. It then edited the original photos on Internet and presented the most convincing parts to confuse the facts and to fool the audience. It even became a spokesman of Dalai Lama and repeatedly emphasize that rioters in Tibet were in "peaceful demonstrations"， and that China had launched a "military crack-down" in Tibet， a "control measure by force" and "a hundred Tibetans had been killed". These are all but fabricated news stories to mislead the American public and they deprived the rights of people around the world， including the American public， to find out the facts and the truth.

These made-up news stories were based on distortion of facts， casting inversely right into wrong， mixing lies with truth， taking quotes out of context， defaming and making wrongful accusation and fabricating facts without basis. Not only did they become the worst failure of news reporting by CNN and became the biggest joke 0f 2008 among members of media， but they undermined the credibility long established by CNN.

Credibility is the soul of news media. The ugly conduct of CNN in its tarnishing and demonizing of China cannot and will not escape from scrutiny in this age of mass media. For its coverage of Lhasa riot on March 14， the American public has timely created a humorous and sarcastic comment about CNN:"Don't be like CNN"， which has been widely adopted all over the country. It seems like the credibility established with tremendous endeavor by CNN over the years has suddenly collapsed in the eyes of the American public.

On behalf of Citizens of Chinese descent in United States， members of the United Chinese Associations of Eastern America strongly condemns CNN for its adoption of a double standard and the violation of ethic for news coverage. The Association would like to caution members of the CNN news team that the key of good news coverage lies not only in its timeliness of presentation， but also in its fairness， objectivity， truthfulness and credibility. In case that the journalists mix their individual ideology， personal taste of favor and disfavor， their wishful prejudice or subjective judgment with their news coverage， they would violate the most basic ethic in news reporting， i.e. being fair， objective， truthful and credible， and they would lose their credibility in the media community and among the public. The kind of news coverage， as lacking credibility as CNN has presented， not only would mislead the public and harm sentiment of the people， but it would become a negative factor in obstructing and damaging the relationship between China and United States， and in hurting the friendship between peoples of the two nations.

Sincerely yours，

Executive Chairman ofUnited Chinese Associations of Eastern America

致CNN的公開信

CNN負責人：

公信力是每一個媒體獲得公眾認可的唯一法寶，是每一個媒體不懈追求的精神財富。而公信力的確立需要一個一點一滴慢慢積累的艱難過程，但若要破壞它卻是輕而易舉的。

貴台創辦於1980年，雖然曾經在1981年報道美國前總統里根遇刺事件中令業界同行刮目相看，小有名氣，但並沒有真正走入民眾的視野。貴台開播後五年內一直無法擺脫財政困境，收視率一直在最底線徘徊。貴台最大的特點是現場直播，1990-1991年的海灣戰爭，貴台第一時間讓全球億萬人看到了以美國為首的多國部隊對伊拉克實施「沙漠盾牌」的戰爭實況；1991年8月克里姆林宮發生巨變，當時連美國中央情報局都毫無預警的情況下，貴台能夠在第一時間把事件呈現在大眾面前。從此，貴台名聲大噪，確立了世界上獨一無二新聞電視網的位置，也在全球建立了難能可貴的公信力。

無可否認，貴台的從業人員基本上都還遵守新聞報道要客觀、求真、求實的基本准則，但遺憾的是，這些准則卻只局限於西方國家，一談到中國、中國共產黨或海外華人華僑，雙重標准就會因根深蒂固的沙文主義思潮而產生。歧視、偏見和排中傾向馬上取代了一切新聞操守和新聞准則，采用新聞業界人士最不齒的歪曲事實、顛倒黑白、混淆是非、斷章取義、抹黑陷害，甚至憑空捏造的手段來報道發生在中國境內的事件和海外華人華僑的生存狀況，丑化、妖魔化中國、中國人和海外華人。

是次3月14日「藏獨」分子煽動不法之徒在中國西藏自治區首府拉薩制造暴亂，貴台一如既往沒有擺脫對中國新聞報道不公正、不客觀的態度，為了達到所要宣傳的「藏人被迫害」的意圖，先是不停播報「藏人」毆打「中國人」、焚燒「中國人」商店的新聞，在字面上故意把藏族同胞從56個中華民族大家庭分隔出去；接著竟將網絡上的原始照片進行剪裁，取最有說服力的部分混淆事實，愚弄視聽；最後並甘心充當達賴喇嘛的傳聲筒，不斷強調西藏暴民是「和平示威」，並報道中國在西藏自治區實行「軍事鎮壓」、「武力管制」、「百名藏人被殺」等無中生有的新聞，誤導美國民眾，剝奪了包括美國人民在內的世界人民的求知權、知情權。

這些依賴著歪曲事實、顛倒黑白、混淆是非、斷章取義、抹黑陷害或憑空捏造的假新聞，不僅是貴台新聞報道的最大敗筆，成了2008年美國新聞業界的笑柄，也損害了貴台長久以來所建立的公信力。

公信力是新聞媒體的靈魂。貴台丑化中國、妖魔化中國的丑陋行為在現今的信息時代將無所遁形。就這次貴台報道3月14日拉薩暴亂事件之事件，美國民眾非常及時地為貴台度身定造了一句既幽默又有諷刺味道的一句話：「Don't be like CNN」，並已經在美國國內廣泛流傳。看來貴台多年以來的好不容易建立起來的公信力在民眾心目中已轟然倒塌了。

美東華人社團聯合總會代表旅美華人華僑對貴台「采用雙重標准、背離新聞操守」的行為表示強烈的譴責。同時也告誡貴台的從業人員，新聞報道不僅要求第一時間呈現在公眾面前，還需要公正客觀、真實可信。新聞從業人員若將自身的意識形態、個人的偏好偏惡、想當然的偏見或是主觀臆斷摻雜在新聞報道中，那就已經違背了「公正客觀、真實可信」最基本的新聞操守，在新聞業界內和民眾心目中都喪失了公信力。如同貴台這樣缺乏公信力的新聞會不僅誤導了民眾、傷害了人心，在某種程度上也給中美兩國的關係和中美兩國人民的友誼造成負面的阻礙力和破壞力。

執筆人：美東華人社團聯合總會執行主席黃克鏘  
编辑：龙芯

Calm

此贴要顶

The guy CNNFan, who obviously work for CNN, always tried to make excuses by repeating the following
1. The fake photo was made by an other company so that CNN is not responsible for the mistake because CNN does not own the copyright.
2. The live broadcast sometimes forget to mention it is an UNCONFIRMED report because the person is very nervous and speaks more than 100 words per minute and human being make mistakes -- which implies that they can just broadcast whatever they want and make comments whatever they like to say without taking any responsibility.

How can you still say CNN is a most TRUSTED media?

那个英文论坛上的CNNfan明显是CNN的人。他说登出的假照片是另一家公司制作的，所以CNN不负责任。他说播放假新闻时播音员忘记了说那是未经确实的，所以CNN没有偏袒。总之，CNN不必确认新闻的真实性，不必为播放未经确实的假新闻负责。那么你为何还称CNN是最值得信任的媒体呢？

劉澀澀

西方媒体差不多一个德行。。。。。