Octavia Nasr
Encyclopedia
Octavia Nasr is a journalist who covers Middle East
affairs. She served as CNN
’s Senior Editor of Mideast affairs until her dismissal in July 2010 over her public statement of respect on Twitter for the Lebanese cleric Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, who she considered "one of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot."
, Lebanon
to Lebanese Maronite Christian parents. She studied in Beirut between 1968 and 1978; primary and middle school at the Sœurs des Saints Cœurs in Hadath. She completed her high school studies at the Collège des Pères Antonins in Hadath Baabda
, Lebanon. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Lebanese American University
(LAU). She has started her graduate studies in Middle Eastern affairs at Georgia State University
(GSU), in Atlanta, Georgia
.
Nasr is married and has two daughters. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia
, and is fluent in Arabic, French
and English
.
(LBC) in Lebanon. She later became Executive Producer of the channel's main news bulletin and then turned to reporting. As a war correspondent
at LBC she covered the Lebanon Civil War and interviewed political figures from the different warring factions from 1988 to 1990. Lawlessness and a rise in journalists' kidnapping drove western broadcasters to close down their operations during that time. On behalf of LBC, Nasr contributed reports and filed live updates to CNN's World Report program during that period.
In 1990, Nasr moved to CNN and worked there in various capacities until 2010. She coordinated CNN's coverage of the Gulf War
as part of the international assignment desk in 1991. She also ran the news gathering operation for the CNN World Report program before she became the program's anchor and Editor. After 9/11/2001 her role changed to Senior Editor of Arab affairs coordinating coverage with various Arab networks and providing on air and behind-the-scenes analysis of breaking news with a focus on the war on terrorism
, al Qaeda, Taliban, Osama bin Laden
and the Afghanistan
-Pakistan
region. Most recently, she served as the Senior Editor for Middle East affairs across all of CNN's platforms. In this capacity she appeared on CNN shows as an analyst of breaking news and developing stories in the Middle East and how they pertain to the United States and the world.
An early adopter of digital media
, Nasr is considered one of the pioneers of bridging the gap between traditional and social media
. She played a pivotal role building and running the social media international news gathering strategy at CNN. The peak of her work in this capacity was the Iranian elections of 2009
and their aftermath. She now runs her own company, Bridges Media Consulting. Its main aim is to help businesses employ social networks to enhance their image and deliver their message. She is a lecturer and columnist on Middle East issues. Most recently, she spoke at the Harvard Business School
about the importance of social media in the Arab world
. At the University of Warsaw
in Poland
she discussed the similarities between the ongoing uprising in the Middle East with Eastern Europe
of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Nasr is the recipient of many awards including: Edward R. Murrow
for Continuing Coverage: CNN, Coverage of the Middle East Conflict; the 2006 Lebanon War. Golden Cedar Award for Excellence in Journalism from the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce as well as CNN World Report's Achievement Award.
ed on the same day that she was "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot..."
Nasr was criticized for this perceived show of sympathy and support for Hezbollah, an organization which the U.S. government designates as a terrorist group, amid claims that her stated position was incompatible with her role at CNN as editor of news on the Middle East
.
In response to reactions to her comment, Nasr wrote on July 6 that the tweet was "an error of judgment". She noted Fadlallah "regularly praised the terror attacks that killed Israeli citizens. And as recently as 2008, he said the numbers of Jews killed in the Holocaust were wildly inflated." She also noted
"In 1983, as Fadlallah found his voice as a spiritual leader, Islamic Jihad - soon to morph into Hezbollah - bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 299 American and French peacekeepers."
Nasr concluded her statement by saying that Fadlallah was "revered across borders yet designated a terrorist. Not the kind of life to be commenting about in a brief tweet. It's something I deeply regret." A CNN spokesman responded saying that "CNN regrets any offense her Twitter message caused. It did not meet CNN’s editorial standards." The following day, on July 7, CNN fired Nasr. In an internal CNN memo announcing Nasr's departure, CNN International
’s senior vice president for newsgathering, Parisa Khosravi, wrote, "We believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward."
's Dan Abrams
asked "Can you imagine what would happen to an American journalist expressing admiration for an Al Qaeda leader who had other, better, attributes?" Others expressed concern over what they viewed as similar incidents, most notably Hearst syndicated columnist Helen Thomas
retiring under criticism one month earlier.
Those who agreed with CNN's decision stated that it had a right to enforce standards of objectivity in its reporting. Those who supported Nasr felt her firing constituted a new trend in the political climate for journalists and journalism covering politically sensitive issues in general, and the Middle East in particular.
Orthodox rabbi Shmuley Boteach
wrote "For people like...Nasr..., an imam like Fadlallah who wants to kill Americans and Israelis but who is unexpectedly nice to women has taken a giant leap forward from the Dark Ages, deserving respect and praise. This attitude is, of course, not only deeply amoral and patronizing nonsense but historically false."
Expressing a contrary opinion, Robert Fisk
derided CNN and its credibility over the firing, saying "Poor old CNN goes on getting more cowardly by the hour. That's why no one cares about it any more."
Thomas Friedman
was also among the many who were troubled by the decision, saying that the decision undermined the network's credibility and sent the wrong signal to young people entering journalism.
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
affairs. She served as CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
’s Senior Editor of Mideast affairs until her dismissal in July 2010 over her public statement of respect on Twitter for the Lebanese cleric Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, who she considered "one of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot."
Biography
Octavia Nasr was born in Hadath BaabdaBaabda
Baabda is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon....
, Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
to Lebanese Maronite Christian parents. She studied in Beirut between 1968 and 1978; primary and middle school at the Sœurs des Saints Cœurs in Hadath. She completed her high school studies at the Collège des Pères Antonins in Hadath Baabda
Baabda
Baabda is the capital city of Baabda District as well as the capital of Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon....
, Lebanon. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Lebanese American University
Lebanese American University
The Lebanese American University is a secular, private and independent American university located in Lebanon...
(LAU). She has started her graduate studies in Middle Eastern affairs at Georgia State University
Georgia State University
Georgia State University is a research university in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1913, it serves about 30,000 students and is one of the University System of Georgia's four research universities...
(GSU), in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Nasr is married and has two daughters. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, and is fluent in Arabic, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Career
Nasr began her career as an assistant News Director at the Lebanese Broadcasting CorporationLebanese Broadcasting Corporation
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation , widely known as LBC, is the first private television station in Lebanon. It went global in 1996 when it launched its satellite channel LBC Al-Fadha'iya Al-Lubnaniya covering the Arab World. It now has several channels covering Europe, America, Australia, and...
(LBC) in Lebanon. She later became Executive Producer of the channel's main news bulletin and then turned to reporting. As a war correspondent
War correspondent
A war correspondent is a journalist who covers stories firsthand from a war zone. In the 19th century they were also called Special Correspondents.-Methods:...
at LBC she covered the Lebanon Civil War and interviewed political figures from the different warring factions from 1988 to 1990. Lawlessness and a rise in journalists' kidnapping drove western broadcasters to close down their operations during that time. On behalf of LBC, Nasr contributed reports and filed live updates to CNN's World Report program during that period.
In 1990, Nasr moved to CNN and worked there in various capacities until 2010. She coordinated CNN's coverage of the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
as part of the international assignment desk in 1991. She also ran the news gathering operation for the CNN World Report program before she became the program's anchor and Editor. After 9/11/2001 her role changed to Senior Editor of Arab affairs coordinating coverage with various Arab networks and providing on air and behind-the-scenes analysis of breaking news with a focus on the war on terrorism
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
, al Qaeda, Taliban, Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
and the Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
-Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
region. Most recently, she served as the Senior Editor for Middle East affairs across all of CNN's platforms. In this capacity she appeared on CNN shows as an analyst of breaking news and developing stories in the Middle East and how they pertain to the United States and the world.
An early adopter of digital media
Digital media
Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital form. It can refer to the technical aspect of storage and transmission Digital media is a form of electronic media where data is stored in digital (as opposed to analog) form. It can refer to the technical aspect of...
, Nasr is considered one of the pioneers of bridging the gap between traditional and social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
. She played a pivotal role building and running the social media international news gathering strategy at CNN. The peak of her work in this capacity was the Iranian elections of 2009
Iranian presidential election, 2009
Iran's tenth presidential election was held on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's official news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes counted, Ahmadinejad had won the election...
and their aftermath. She now runs her own company, Bridges Media Consulting. Its main aim is to help businesses employ social networks to enhance their image and deliver their message. She is a lecturer and columnist on Middle East issues. Most recently, she spoke at the Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is the graduate business school of Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts, United States and is widely recognized as one of the top business schools in the world. The school offers the world's largest full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, and many executive...
about the importance of social media in the Arab world
Arab world
The Arab world refers to Arabic-speaking states, territories and populations in North Africa, Western Asia and elsewhere.The standard definition of the Arab world comprises the 22 states and territories of the Arab League stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Sea in the...
. At the University of Warsaw
University of Warsaw
The University of Warsaw is the largest university in Poland and one of the most prestigious, ranked as best Polish university in 2010 and 2011...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
she discussed the similarities between the ongoing uprising in the Middle East with Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Nasr is the recipient of many awards including: Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
for Continuing Coverage: CNN, Coverage of the Middle East Conflict; the 2006 Lebanon War. Golden Cedar Award for Excellence in Journalism from the Lebanese-American Chamber of Commerce as well as CNN World Report's Achievement Award.
Fadlallah comments and CNN dismissal
Following the death of Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah on July 4, 2010, Nasr tweetTwitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
ed on the same day that she was "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah.. One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot..."
Nasr was criticized for this perceived show of sympathy and support for Hezbollah, an organization which the U.S. government designates as a terrorist group, amid claims that her stated position was incompatible with her role at CNN as editor of news on the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
In response to reactions to her comment, Nasr wrote on July 6 that the tweet was "an error of judgment". She noted Fadlallah "regularly praised the terror attacks that killed Israeli citizens. And as recently as 2008, he said the numbers of Jews killed in the Holocaust were wildly inflated." She also noted
"In 1983, as Fadlallah found his voice as a spiritual leader, Islamic Jihad - soon to morph into Hezbollah - bombed the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, killing 299 American and French peacekeepers."
Nasr concluded her statement by saying that Fadlallah was "revered across borders yet designated a terrorist. Not the kind of life to be commenting about in a brief tweet. It's something I deeply regret." A CNN spokesman responded saying that "CNN regrets any offense her Twitter message caused. It did not meet CNN’s editorial standards." The following day, on July 7, CNN fired Nasr. In an internal CNN memo announcing Nasr's departure, CNN International
CNN International
CNN International is an international English language television network that carries news, current affairs, politics, opinions, and business programming worldwide. CNN is one of the world's largest news organizations. It is owned by Time Warner, and is affiliated with CNN, which is mainly...
’s senior vice president for newsgathering, Parisa Khosravi, wrote, "We believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward."
Reaction
Articles and commentaries following Nasr's sacking have been divided. MediaiteMediaite
Mediaite is a news and opinion blog covering politics and entertainment in the media industry as well as other issues. It is the flagship blog of Abrams Media, a ring of blogs run by ABC legal analyst Dan Abrams and also featuring Gossip Cop, Geekosystem, Styleite, Sports Grid, The Mary Sue and...
's Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams
Dan Abrams is an American television host, legal commentator, web entrepreneur and best-selling author. He is currently Legal Analyst at ABC News Good Morning America , and a substitute anchor for the network. He formerly served as Chief Legal Analyst for NBC News, as General Manager of MSNBC and...
asked "Can you imagine what would happen to an American journalist expressing admiration for an Al Qaeda leader who had other, better, attributes?" Others expressed concern over what they viewed as similar incidents, most notably Hearst syndicated columnist Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas
Helen Thomas is an American author and former news service reporter, member of the White House Press Corps and opinion columnist. She worked for the United Press and post-1958 successor United Press International for 57 years, first as a correspondent, and later as White House bureau manager...
retiring under criticism one month earlier.
Those who agreed with CNN's decision stated that it had a right to enforce standards of objectivity in its reporting. Those who supported Nasr felt her firing constituted a new trend in the political climate for journalists and journalism covering politically sensitive issues in general, and the Middle East in particular.
Orthodox rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Shmuley Boteach
Shmuel "Shmuley" Boteach is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, TV host and public speaker.Among other books, Boteach wrote Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, published in 1999, which openly discusses intimacy and sexual intercourse...
wrote "For people like...Nasr..., an imam like Fadlallah who wants to kill Americans and Israelis but who is unexpectedly nice to women has taken a giant leap forward from the Dark Ages, deserving respect and praise. This attitude is, of course, not only deeply amoral and patronizing nonsense but historically false."
Expressing a contrary opinion, Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk
Robert Fisk is an English writer and journalist from Maidstone, Kent. As Middle East correspondent of The Independent, he has primarily been based in Beirut for more than 30 years. He has published a number of books and has reported on the United States's war in Afghanistan and the same country's...
derided CNN and its credibility over the firing, saying "Poor old CNN goes on getting more cowardly by the hour. That's why no one cares about it any more."
Thomas Friedman
Thomas Friedman
Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.-Personal...
was also among the many who were troubled by the decision, saying that the decision undermined the network's credibility and sent the wrong signal to young people entering journalism.