CNN’s Cooper says he should have challenged claims of ‘no go’ zones

NEW YORK, N.Y. – CNN has joined Fox News Channel in saying that it was mistaken to report in the wake of an attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo that there were neighbourhoods in Europe considered “no go” zones for non-Muslims.

Fox apologized over the weekend for on-air comments made by pundits, including one who described the English city of Birmingham as “totally Muslim.” In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo threatened to sue Fox over comments made about her city.

On Monday, CNN’s Anderson Cooper aired a story on his program about what Fox had said. But The Washington Post subsequently pointed out the supposed “no go” zones were talked about on CNN the previous week — including on Cooper’s program. Cooper even used one analyst’s comments about Muslim-dominated areas as the basis for a question he put to another guest.

“If you are going to point fingers at other people’s mistakes, you should also acknowledge your own mistakes and we didn’t do that on the program,” Cooper said on the air Wednesday night.

Cooper noted that he did not challenge his guests.

“I should have been more skeptical,” he said. “Won’t make the same mistake again.”

CNN representatives did not have an immediate comment on whether other CNN shows would address the issue. The network went back and checked its transcripts when attention was called to its own lapses.