CNN has fired Middle East editor Octavia Nasr following over a controversial tweet in which she praised a late Hezbollah spiritual leader.
Nasr commented the death of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of the founders of Hezbollah on her official CNN Twitter account, but the comment did not go down well. Nasr wrote: "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot."
As one might expect many readers weren’t exactly thrilled with Nasr’s comment, so the tweet was expressly removed from her feed. Nasr admitted her comment was an “error of judgment” and went on to explain that she respected the late ayatollah’s stance on women’s rights. Eventually, even the Simon Wiesenthal Center weighed in and called on Nasr to retract her comment and issue and apology.
However, it was too little too late. CNN summoned Nasr to a meeting in Atlanta, where she was shown the door. A CNN spokesperson stressed that her comments did not meet CNN editorial standards and that the credibility as a senior Middle Eastern affairs editor was compromised.
More here.
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20-year career ended by 140-character tweet
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