CNN Reporter Responds to Criticism of Reporting From Iran With Gov’s Approval: ‘Always Better To Be On the Ground’ — Even With Restrictions

(via CNN)

CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen shrugged off criticism he and the cable news channel received for reporting from Iran with the approval of its theocratic regime, saying that was a “natural” reaction for many viewers to have.

Pletigen was asked about the critics in a new interview with The Guardian on Saturday.

“I wasn’t. I was sure that that was going to happen,” Pleitgen said when reporter Jeremy Barr asked if he was “surprised” by the complaints.

He continued:

I think right now, especially in the US, the debate about almost anything that the Trump administration does usually falls along party lines, and so you’re going to get trashed by people who don’t like ‘liberal media’ or whatever.

So I wasn’t really surprised about that. And quite frankly, I don’t take offense to it, either. I think it’s a natural thing that happens, and I think a lot of it is more words than anything else anyway … Even if there are restrictions, it’s always better to be on the ground than to not be on the ground …

Pleitgen then said he felt some of the criticism was “over the top” but that he can understand why people were “charged up.”

His interview comes after Pleitgen reported for eight days from Iran as U.S. and Israeli forces strike the country. Pleitgen showed viewers last week that black rain was pouring from the sky in Tehran following an Israeli strike on Iranian oil facilities.

Some critics slammed CNN and Pleitgen for reporting from inside the country with the approval of Iran’s regime, with one member of the Trump administration calling it “pro-Iran regime propaganda.” 

CNN routinely noted Pleitgen was operating in the country with the blessing of its government; anchor Jim Sciutto told viewers “CNN can only operate in Iran with the country’s government approval,” last week, for example.

Barr asked Pleitgen if he felt his coverage was “truly independent” considering it was government-approved.

“I felt good about the coverage. I think that as far as the ongoing war was concerned, we definitely did what we’d set out to do and what we wanted to do,” he said. “One of the things I would like to delve into more, which we didn’t get to do to that extent, was to what extent the government still has the support of the people. Because there were very few people who were still out on the streets, and a lot of people are afraid to speak to you.”

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!