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Conflict of Interest at CNN?

Earlier we mentioned in a Media Watch Alert that a so-called documentary ("Deliver Us From Evil") by freelance television producer Amy Berg concerning the clergy abuse scandal was scheduled to make its debut at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Festival. We noted that our expectations for fairness and accuracy in any mention of the Archdiocese or Cardinal Roger Mahony were pretty low.

That turned out to be good thinking on our part.

Now we are presented with a "review" of the film by CNN reporter Drew Griffin, which aired on "Paula Zahn Now" Tuesday, June 27. If the "documentary" itself lacked a sense of fairness, then Griffin's "review" drags media objectivity and ethics to a new, low level.

Griffin first contacted the Archdiocese a week before his report aired to say that he would be working on a piece, in his words, "kinda previewing" Berg's film on abusive priest Oliver O'Grady. He added that he would also be providing, again in his own words, an "update on how the investigation is going ... and any kind of cover-up or hiding of evidence by the L.A. Archdiocese."

So much for the notion of a journalist conducting his reporting with an open mind, free of pre-conceived notions.

But wait, there's an even more disturbing backstory. Griffin and Berg have been pals for years and teamed up on a story about this same subject 18 months ago. They even got an on-camera interview with Cardinal Mahony under what now appears may have been false pretenses. At the very least, there was no mention from them that footage from that interview would eventually show up in Berg's movie. The connivance between these two old pals may run even deeper. On her website, Berg bragged that she has used her relationship with Griffin and the connections she made as an occasional freelance producer at CNN to open doors for her project.

This apparent conflict of interest is disturbing enough. But even more troubling is the fact that CNN, a respected news-gathering organization, should let Griffin proceed with a story about a project with which he may so intimately be connected.

It is true that CNN did describe Berg as a "former freelance producer" for the cable station and that, at the end of the report, Zahn did tell viewers that the Archdiocese asserts that "the movie was produced with the assistance of Drew Griffin, who just reported that story. The film does contain material purchased from CNN archives, but neither the reporter nor any other CNN staffer provided assistance with the production."

We're curious how they define "assistance" since what Zahn doesn't tell you is that Berg produced the earlier piece, along with Griffin, and that Griffin gets a special thanks at the end of the film for all his help to Berg. That sounds awfully cozy.

Since CNN did not see fit to broadcast the Archdiocese's entire response to the Griffin story about the Berg film, here it is:

"We are troubled by the fact that this film, an obvious anti-Church hit piece, apparently was produced with the assistance of the CNN reporter who is now doing a story about it and who is specifically mentioned by name in the film's credits, a blatant conflict of interest that leaves us wondering how anything in the CNN story can be viewed as objective.

That being said - and the conflict of interest is very disturbing - this film is primarily based on anti-Church assertions by plaintiffs' attorneys who stand to gain financially and on the self-serving comments of former priest O'Grady, a sick, twisted monster and, like most molesters, a master manipulator. He manipulated his victims, he manipulated his superiors in the Church, he manipulated his counselors and now, with his sly, feline grins and winks, he has manipulated the film makers."

To understand the full extent of this situation, you might find it helpful to read correspondence with CNN, going back to the original Berg-Griffin story 18 months ago.