1115.org

That would be the CNN-White House team. Not the people who cover the White House for CNN. But the following-in-the-footsteps-of-Fox-News alliance of CNN and the White House. The lovely informal off-the-record arrangement by which CNN slants the news in favor of the Bush White House.

CNN aired a story this afternoon reporting that human rights groups are urging President-elect Obama to “investigate whether the Bush administration is guilty of war crimes,” specifically, torture techniques that were approved for use against terror suspects. CNN reporter Kelli Arena noted that human rights groups argue that torture should never be used, but that “[i]ntelligence experts say that would be a mistake.” Which “expert” did Arena turn to to make that case? Former White House Homeland Security adviser Fran Townsend. At no point did CNN identify Townsend as a former Bush official. Instead, she was labeled an “intelligence expert” and “CNN national security contributor.”

Here’s a new slogan for CNN. “News. It’s whatever we want it to be.” Or maybe this is better: “Telling the public only what it needs to know.”