CNN Fires Mideast Editor Octavia Nasr Following Controversial Tweet
CNN’s Middle East editor Octavia Nasr was fired after the brouhaha surrounding her tweet mourning the death of a Hezollah leader and praising him as one of the organizations’ “giants” whom she respects. According to Mediaite, an internal CNN memo acknowledged that Nasr’s credibility as Middle East editor was compromised. Mediaite reproduces the memo:
From Parisa Khosravi – SVP CNN International Newsgathering
I had a conversation with Octavia this morning and I want to share with you that we have decided that she will be leaving the company. As you know, her tweet over the weekend created a wide reaction. As she has stated in her blog on CNN.com, she fully accepts that she should not have made such a simplistic comment without any context whatsoever. However, at this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.
As a colleague and friend we’re going to miss seeing Octavia everyday. She has been an extremely dedicated and committed part of our team. We thank Octavia for all of her hard work and we certainly wish her all the best.
Parisa.
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