CNN canceled an interview with contrarian journalist Glenn Greenwald about hacking charges against him in Brazil, stating that covering Trump administration criticism of an NPR reporter was more significant.
Greenwald, 52, was charged with cybercrimes on Tuesday after authorities claimed he was working with a “criminal organization” in order to hack into the phones of public officials and prosecutors. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been highly critical of Greenwald’s investigative reporting on his government.
Greenwald announced on Saturday that CNN has pulled him from Sunday’s show.
CNN cancelled, so never mind.
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 25, 2020
Greenwald told the Washington Examiner that CNN claimed to have nixed his appearance because “they have to devote all their time to impeachment, the process that everyone knows will result in nothing.”
“I find it disappointing that CNN can’t devote 6 minutes to a major attack on a free press by the world’s fifth largest country that every major media outlet in the world has extensively covered, but being disappointed isn’t the same as being surprised,” he added.
CNN has yet to mention Greenwald on air by name since the charges were announced, according to a search on Grabien, a television clipping service.
While Greenwald won’t appear on the show Sunday, Stelter did address the charges against Greenwald in the newsletter on the day of his arrest. It included statements from Greenwald himself, the Intercept, as well as a multitude of organizations dedicated to protecting journalists.
When asked for comment, CNN directed the Washington Examiner to a tweet from Stelter addressing the cancellation in which he pointed to the need to cover recent reports on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “mistreatment of the media” as the reason for cutting Greenwald’s interview.
“We made several changes today to add the news about Pompeo’s mistreatment of the media,” he said. “We are keeping close tabs on the case — we asked to reschedule the TV interview — and we continue to cover Glenn’s story on CNN’s digital properties.”
We made several changes today to add the news about Pompeo’s mistreatment of the media. We are keeping close tabs on the case — we asked to reschedule the TV interview — and we continue to cover Glenn’s story on CNN’s digital properties
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) January 26, 2020
Pompeo berated NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly after she pressed him during an interview about former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, whose ousting President Trump can be heard calling for in recordings and video released Friday and Saturday. The secretary on Saturday blasted Kelly for “violating basic rules of journalism and decency” by reporting on the details of the conversation he claimed was off the record.
