Eason Jordan
Encyclopedia
Eason T. Jordan is an entrepreneur who launched and leads several small companies. He previously worked for 23 years at CNN, where he served as the network's chief news executive and president of newsgathering and international networks. He is the recipient of four Emmy Award
s, two Peabody Award
s and the DuPont-Columbia Award
. At the age of 31, he received the Livingston Award's (previously only given posthumously) "Special Citation For Outstanding Achievement" for coverage of the Gulf War, the Soviet crisis, and the African famine. The Livingston Awards for excellence by professionals under the age of 35 are the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in American journalism. He studied journalism
at Georgia State University
.
Jordan serves on the leadership council of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the North America board of the International News Safety Institute, and the advisory board of Peacetree Productions. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the ONE Campaign.
He was portrayed by the actor Clark Gregg in "Live From Baghdad" (2002), a film about the team of CNN journalists who covered the first Gulf War. As CNN was the only news organization broadcasting live first hand reports of the war, this is widely considered the event that "put CNN on the map".
Jordan's latest start-up is called Poll Position, a non-partisan polling company that conducts scientific polls on trending topics in several domains. Poll Position is an oft-cited source for major media organizations and blogs that consider the company's polls to be impartial and sound. Poll Position also aims to engage the public by encourage individuals to vote in the latest polls on the company's website.
by Saddam Hussein
since 1990 in a New York Times story called "The News We Kept to Ourselves".http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C16FD3C5F0C728DDDAD0894DB404482
On January 27, 2005, during the World Economic Forum
annual meeting in Davos
, Switzerland
, Jordan was reported to have said that American troops were targeting journalists. Although there is no transcript of Jordan's statement, Barney Frank
claimed Jordan seemed to be suggesting "it was official military policy to take out journalists", and later added that some U.S. soldiers targeted reporters "maybe knowing they were killing journalists, out of anger" – claims that Jordan denied.
On February 11, 2005, Jordan resigned to "prevent CNN from being unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17462-2005Feb11.html In his press release Jordan also stated that "I have great admiration and respect for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, with whom I have worked closely and been embedded in Baghdad, Tikrit, and Mosul."
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s, two Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
s and the DuPont-Columbia Award
DuPont-Columbia Award
The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award is an American award that honors excellence in broadcast journalism. The awards, administered since 1968 by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, are considered a broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, another...
. At the age of 31, he received the Livingston Award's (previously only given posthumously) "Special Citation For Outstanding Achievement" for coverage of the Gulf War, the Soviet crisis, and the African famine. The Livingston Awards for excellence by professionals under the age of 35 are the largest all-media, general reporting prizes in American journalism. He studied journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
at Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
.
Jordan serves on the leadership council of the Committee to Protect Journalists, the North America board of the International News Safety Institute, and the advisory board of Peacetree Productions. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the ONE Campaign.
He was portrayed by the actor Clark Gregg in "Live From Baghdad" (2002), a film about the team of CNN journalists who covered the first Gulf War. As CNN was the only news organization broadcasting live first hand reports of the war, this is widely considered the event that "put CNN on the map".
Jordan's latest start-up is called Poll Position, a non-partisan polling company that conducts scientific polls on trending topics in several domains. Poll Position is an oft-cited source for major media organizations and blogs that consider the company's polls to be impartial and sound. Poll Position also aims to engage the public by encourage individuals to vote in the latest polls on the company's website.
Controversy
On April 11, 2003, Jordan revealed that CNN knew about human rights abuses committed in IraqIraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
since 1990 in a New York Times story called "The News We Kept to Ourselves".http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C16FD3C5F0C728DDDAD0894DB404482
On January 27, 2005, during the World Economic Forum
World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....
annual meeting in Davos
Davos
Davos is a municipality in the district of Prättigau/Davos in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland. It has a permanent population of 11,248 . Davos is located on the Landwasser River, in the Swiss Alps, between the Plessur and Albula Range...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Jordan was reported to have said that American troops were targeting journalists. Although there is no transcript of Jordan's statement, Barney Frank
Barney Frank
Barney Frank is the U.S. Representative for . A member of the Democratic Party, he is the former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee and is considered the most prominent gay politician in the United States.Born and raised in New Jersey, Frank graduated from Harvard College and...
claimed Jordan seemed to be suggesting "it was official military policy to take out journalists", and later added that some U.S. soldiers targeted reporters "maybe knowing they were killing journalists, out of anger" – claims that Jordan denied.
On February 11, 2005, Jordan resigned to "prevent CNN from being unfairly tarnished by the controversy over conflicting accounts of my recent remarks regarding the alarming number of journalists killed in Iraq." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17462-2005Feb11.html In his press release Jordan also stated that "I have great admiration and respect for the men and women of the U.S. armed forces, with whom I have worked closely and been embedded in Baghdad, Tikrit, and Mosul."
External links
- Eason Jordan's web site
- Eason Jordan's bio at WEF
- Eason Jordan's bio at CNN CNN 1996
- The News We Kept to Ourselves
- CNN executive: Iraq targeted network's journalists CNN April 11, 2003
- Do US Troops Target Journalists in Iraq?
- CNN News Executive Eason Jordan Quits AP Reuters February 11, 2005
- Jordan's latest company, Poll Position