CNN suspends reporter for tweeting in favour of Syrian, Iraqi refugees

CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott later apologised for “editorialising” her tweet

CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott was suspended on Thursday for two weeks after she tweeted about the US House of Representatives voting on a bill that would make it harder for Syrian and Iraqi refugees to enter the US.

House passes bill that could limit Syrian refugees. Statue of Liberty bows head in anguish @CNNPolitics https://t.co/5RvZwVftgD

— Elise Labott (@EliseLabott) November 19, 2015

Labott was reacting to the House of Representatives passing the bill that would suspend the programme allowing Syrian and Iraqi refugees into the country until US national security agencies certify that they don't pose a security risk. The tweet garnered almost 2,500 retweets and more than 3,500 likes.



Labott eventually apologised for her original tweet saying it was wrong of her to “editorialise”.

Everyone, It was wrong of me to editorialize. My tweet was inappropriate and disrespectful. I sincerely apologize.

— Elise Labott (@EliseLabott) November 20, 2015

Some, including Washington Post reporter Eric Wemple, criticised Labott.

CNN correspondent lays bare bias in one easy tweet: https://t.co/XTKTabRade

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) November 19, 2015

@eliselabottcnn @CNNPolitics Yes, how barbaric of us to be prudent in the face of direct threats from ISIS. Common sense!! Wake up.

— Vicki 🇺🇸💕👍 (@VickiNovember) November 19, 2015

However, many on social media came to Labott’s defence, including prominent journalist and author Glenn Greenwald and NYU journalism professor and media critic Jay Rosen.

CNN reporter suspended for tweet implying sympathy for refugees. Punished for being human. https://t.co/Z9h2NHGIrk pic.twitter.com/LWJB359BTD

— Andrew Stroehlein (@astroehlein) November 20, 2015

CNN suspends reporter for having a totally human reaction to anti-refugee hysteria in congress today https://t.co/4tKRQKFJBR

— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) November 20, 2015

https://twitter.com/JuanMThompson/status/667529161238552576
https://twitter.com/FleurduMonde/status/667523560076914688

Things I can say since leaving WaPo: Bravo @eliselabottcnn for what you tweeted about refugee bill.

— Rajiv Chandrasekaran (@rajivscribe) November 20, 2015

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/667526365755932672

Your CNN. Two weeks suspension for this. https://t.co/xAmOJHGu7F Nothing at all for this. https://t.co/U8evN8YhQz More tomorrow. Goodnight.

— Jay Rosen (@jayrosen_nyu) November 20, 2015

In the tweet above, Rosen, the journalism professor, compares Labott’s tweet with a recent CNN interview in which the anchors demanded why the French Muslim community was not taking some responsibility for the Paris attacks.

'Responsibility'

In the interview broadcast on November 15, CNN anchors Isha Sesay and John Vause spent a good part of the six-minute segment grilling Yasser Louati, the representative for Collective Against Islamophobia in France.

CNN screengrab

The segment begins with the text “Muslim communities fear backlash after attacks” on the screen, an indication of the original topic of the interview. However, it didn’t take long for Vause, a 25-year veteran journalist, to launch his tirade against the French Muslim community.

“Well, Yasser, if your camp is the French camp, why is it that no one in the Muslim community there in France knew what these guys were up to?”

With a single question, John Vause of CNN @vausecnn shows he is the dumbest guy on television. https://t.co/pwhpJ739nh

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 16, 2015

Vause does not stop there. He adds some of his own judgement to the mix. “Because it seems to me that this was a pretty big plan. Surely someone beyond the seven guys who have been killed over the last 48 hours would have to have known something, and that was probably within the Muslim community, but yet no one said anything.”



“Sir, the Muslim community has nothing to do with these guys. Nothing,” Louati firmly states. “We cannot justify ourselves for the actions of someone who just claims to be Muslim. Our secret services knew about these guys, and again, just like the January attacks, it turned out they were all on a blacklist somewhere, somehow on a desk.”

https://twitter.com/clementine_ford/status/666407810784174080

At this point, Vause interrupts Yasser mid-sentence and essentially repeats his earlier question, laying the blame squarely on French Muslims: “What is the responsibility within the Muslim community to identify what is happening within their own ranks when it comes to people who are obviously training and preparing to carry out mass murder?”



Louati corrects the CCN anchor again. “No, no, no, no, sir — they were not from our ranks.”

https://twitter.com/karimhajjali/status/666476936680579072

“What these terrorists are blaming our country for is for its failed foreign policy,” Louati explains.

God, these #CNN pundits are absolutely disgusting! I'm with Yasser Louati! French Muslim comm. bears no responsibility for these attacks!

— 😇 (@transcesca) November 15, 2015

“[The terrorists] are a byproduct of our societies exporting their wars abroad and expecting no repercussion back home,” Louati adds.



Continuing with the responsibility theme, Sesay then questions Louati about the large number of French Muslims going to join IS.

“There is indeed an issue, but that issue is due to foreign policies and failed domestic policies,” Louati replies, adding that radicalisation does not take place in mosques, “it takes place either on the internet or on the streets, away from organised communities”.



https://twitter.com/delunaelizabeth/status/665779206102511616

At the conclusion of the interview, Vause expresses his judgement yet again: “I’ve yet to hear the condemnation from the Muslim community on this, but we’ll wait and see.”