The president of Cable News Network, Ted Turner, has apologized to Hebrew University Professor Israel Gutman for the “unintentional” distortion of an interview the Israeli scholar gave CNN last year.
Gutman, a Holocaust survivor and leading researcher at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on Monday that he was not fully satisfied with Turner’s letter, but would not pursue the matter.
The apology was for the way CNN used remarks made by Gutman in a May 1989 interview concerning a decision by the West Bank Jewish township of Ariel to require Arab laborers it employed to wear distinguishing tags.
The broadcast seemed to imply that Gutman was comparing the Ariel ordinance — which came under fire and was swiftly withdrawn — to the yellow star the Nazis forced Jews to wear.
Turner wrote, “It was never the intent of CNN to take a statement or the gist of a statement by you to us out of context, and certainly not to embarrass you with your colleagues.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
