And there was much rejoicing

Last week started on a high with reactions to the remarkably successful and relatively peaceful Iraqi elections lighting up the blogosphere. Iraq the Model, standard-bearer for the nascent Iraqi blogosophere, summed up the triumphant mood:

How can I describe it!? Take my eyes and look through them my friends, you have supported the day of Iraq's freedom and today, Iraqis have proven that they're not going to disappoint their country or their friends...Could any model match this one!? Could any bravery match the Iraqis'!? Let the remaining tyrants of the world learn the lesson from this day.

Those in search of first-hand coverage from Iraq were not disappointed. Cigars in the Sand provided direct photo coverage from Baghdad; Friends of Democracy offered a host of Iraqi correspondents covering the election. Other in-country blogs included I Should Have Stayed Home... and Iraqi blogs The Mesopotamian and Life in Baghdad. And as always with a major event, many roundups could be found, including these from Arthur Chrenkoff, Jeff Jarvis, and of course, Glenn Reynolds.

Targeting Eason Jordan's Targeting

CNN chief Eason Jordan spent the week in a position familiar to the likes of Dan Rather and Trent Lott: with a large blogosphere-shaped target on his back. Rony Abovitz, blogging at the World Economic Forum, released the hounds on Jordan with a startling accusation:

During one of the discussions about the number of journalists killed in the Iraq War, Eason Jordan asserted that he knew of 12 journalists who had not only been killed by US troops in Iraq, but they had in fact been targeted. He repeated the assertion a few times, which seemed to win favor in parts of the audience (the anti-US crowd) and cause great strain on others.

Tuesday, Captain Ed, Little Green Footballs, and Power Line picked up on the report, and it was all downhill for Mr. Jordan from there. On Wednesday, self-described "recovering TV reporter-turned-blogger" Rebecca MacKinnon confirmed Abovitz's account, ("I was in the room and Rony's account is consistent with what I heard"), lending significant credence to the story given her own disclaimer that "...Jordan happens to be my former boss who promoted me and defended me in some rather sticky situations after my reporting angered the Chinese government..."

Jordan himself released a clarifying statement ("To be clear, I do not believe the U.S. military is trying to kill journalists in Iraq. I said so during the forum panel discussion. But, nonetheless, the U.S. military has killed several journalists in Iraq in cases of mistaken identity.") and CNN rolled out a backpedalling e-mail declaring that "Many blogs have taken Mr. Jordan's remarks out of context."

The problem, however, is that no official transcript has been produced of Jordan's remarks, nor has any audio or video recording been made available --- yet. But that may change shortly, as blogger Sisyphus indicates that the World Economic Forum has responded to his request for a copy of the session videotape.

Thus far, the mainstream media has all but completely ignored the Jordan story, but that too is changing. The Washington Times ran a brief piece Friday, and Hugh Hewitt, who has done much to keep the story alive on his blog, appeared on the Chris Matthew's Show Saturday and raised the issue, prompting -- and predicting that "will break in the major media over the weekend". Perhaps a litte over-optimistic, but with high-powered bloggers such as La Shawn Barber on the case and a new blog devoted solely to the controversy, one wouldn't want to be in Mr. Jordan's shoes.

The Week in Blog is a new weekly feature at The Truth Laid Bear. Check back every Monday morning for a roundup of the stories that resonated throughout the political blogosphere over the past week.