The Jerusalem Post is taking credit for the CNN backdown on Jerusalem.
Following an inquiry from The Jerusalem Post, CNN has corrected a feature on its Web site that failed to identify Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and which had instead listed it as “Jerusalem, null.”The change was made on Wednesday, after the Post contacted a CNN spokesman in Atlanta, where the company is based, and asked why Israel was referred to in this way by the Web site.
The feature in question appears on the CNN home page, which offers visitors the option of checking the weather at various locations around the world by typing in the name of the desired city.
The page returns a result containing the city name followed by the country in which it is located, such that someone who typed in “Moscow” would receive the weather report for “Moscow, Russia.”
But visitors to the site who typed in “Jerusalem” received the weather forecast for “Jerusalem, null,” with no mention made of the city’s location in the State of Israel.
After being contacted by the Post on Wednesday, CNN spokeswoman Jennifer Martin said that the company had made “a clarification” to the Web site after having received “a few inquiries” on the issue.
The matter was first uncovered and publicized by pro-Israel activist Web sites.
While the post’s efforts may have helped, I find it to be the height of arrogance to claim they were responsible for the change. After all, readers from Israellycool, LGF, and many other blogs contacted CNN, and I would assume this pressure influenced CNN.
The article also makes no reference to the other issues with CNN Weather, namely Gaza and the West Bank being listed as separate countries, and the pre-48 Arab villages.
It also wouldn’t have hurt to mention Israellycool as being the first blog to report on this. After all, when I read about a story originating from the Post, I make the necessary attribution.
Update: The Jerusalem Post has amended the piece to include the contribution of Israellycool and LGF. As far as taking credit for CNN effecting the change, the Post has informed me that a CNN spokesman acknowledged that it was after receiving the inquiry from the Post that the change was made. If this is the case, then I think it is a spit in the face of all those people who wrote in and complained (CNN don’t care what they think, but only what another news organization thinks?), although the end result is positive.
