CNN Fires Mideast Editor Over Tweet

Twitter isn't big on context, and CNN reporter and editor Octavia Nasr is paying the price. The network is dropping her after she caused an uproar by tweeting "respect" for a notorious Hezbollah figure upon hearing news of his death, reports Mediaite. Nasr, a 20-year CNN veteran, tried to clarify later that she meant to praise Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah only for his defiance of other Shia clerics on women's rights, notes the New York Times, but it was too late.

"We believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised," says a CNN memo. Among other things, Fadlallah supported suicide attacks against Israeli civilians, and pro-Israeli groups were outraged at the original tweet: “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah… One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.” Click here for a rundown of the seven (yep, seven) things she did wrong.
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