The somber tone revealing the tense nature of reporting for CNN in Iraq. The intent of his piece was not to ask for forgiveness, but rather to enable understanding for why he did the things he did. He explains he couldn't divulge any of those stories he heard for fear of putting his staff and Iraqi citizens in danger.By writing this piece in paragraphs, it looked more like a personal essay than an article. He kept it in the first person and included an introduction and conclusion, noting how he felt about having to hide these stories from the public. Although some of it makes it seem like a letter, the structure, and the transitions in-between paragraphs clearly denotes an essay. Some of it was written in defense of his actions, and then in the end he expressed remorse for having to keep it all inside. However, the overall tone, was to show why he did what he did back then.

Eason Jordan sounds genuine. He explained in a logical and coherent way the reasons for his actions. He also explained that if he had revealed any of the information he gathered, he would have faced the deaths of several people...

By citing the various times, the Iraqi government abducted people and how some people were inevitably killed, it confirmed why it was dangerous for him to reveal those stories.
For me personally as a consumer of news, it gives clarification and understanding to why the media projects a certain image on the news and why they apply certain filters. Some of it is fueled by a need to censor certain events to protect the public or the people affected by such an event. Although it is important to find the truth as discussed by Bob Steele in his guidelines, it is also important to consider the repercussions of revealing such truth.

While some may lend a sympathetic ear to Jordan and CNN, some as seen in The Media's War interview, find CNN's actions wrong. Franklin Foer asked "Why wouldn't it have been told on CNN? CNN could have gotten people to testify to that demonstration after the fact. It doesn't seem to me the necessity of being in Baghdad means that you would miss out on all these great stories." There seems to be…