Reese Schonfeld, one of the founders of CNN and its first president, has torn into current CNN chief Walter Isaacson for refusing to take a stand against rival TV networks who broadcast footage from the Qatar news network Al-Jazeera despite a two-way exclusive deal between CNN and the Arab network.
Noting that Al-Jazeera has called the networks’ use of the footage from inside Afghanistan “an act of piracy,” Schonfeld remarked on his website http://www.meandted.com, “Al-Jazeera shows more guts than CNN. CNN is giving away Al-Jazeera’s material and their own scoop and Al-Jazeera doesn’t like it. Walter Isaacson is new on the block and may not realize that CNN’s worldwide coverage system is its greatest asset. That’s something you don’t give away. I’d fight for a ‘scoop’ on a story this big, but CNN 2001 seems more interested in making friends than competing journalistically.”
On Thursday, ABC News signed its own deal with Al-Jazeera under which the two organizations will trade footage.
