CNN Reporter Quits After Network Denies Him Time Off To Deal With PTSD From Iraq War

[kpete]

Source: Business Insider

CNN Reporter Quits After Network Denies Him Time Off To Deal With Post-Traumatic Stress From Iraq War

Big loss for CNN: Foreign correspondent Michael Ware, famous for his coverage of the Iraq war, has left the network.

All Things CNN, an independent blog covering the network, writes that Ware has been on leave working on a book and struggling with PTSD from his years of war reporting. He needed more time off, but his request was denied, and now he's not coming back, the blog reports.

A CNN spokesperson confirmed to The Huffington Post that Ware has been on leave but declined to comment further than that.

Ware discussed his PTSD in a disturbing December 2008 Men's Journal piece. “I am not the same f**king person," reads the lede.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/cnns-guy-in-iraq-michael-ware-has-left-the-network-2010-4#ixzz0mTuDA1Q6

[ejpoeta]

1. don't they have to give a person medical leave!!?? wtf cnn.

[Stargazer99]

2. This is one's reward for serving their country

The capitalist might not make enough money to extend time off

[still_one]

18. Time off for healthcare leave I agree with, I don't agree that Ware was necessarily serving

the country

[ooglymoogly]

24. wow! Time to take off the blinders nt

[cui bono]

43. What???

He brought us a lot of truth and reality when others wouldn't. He risked his life every day. Iirc he even got captured by some group and talked them into letting him go.

I think he served us pretty damn well.

[Greyskye]

46. Letting the American people know what's being done in their name isn't serving the country?

Dude, that's messed up. Seriously.

[dchill]

56. Then who, in your opinion...

WAS serving the country?

:shrug:

[w4rma]

80. still_one, you need to retract that BS. (nt)

[butterfly77]

86. Were you watching..

he went places many reporters wouldn't go,he really lived there he was there the longer than most him and the other guy on Msnbc were outstanding in their reporting they showed us things many would not have seen or known about because,Bush,Cheney,Rumsfeld,Rice,McCain,Graham,LIEberman,McConnell,Inhofe,Sennsenbrenner,Kyl,Duncan Hunter the first one,Orrin Hatch,Richard Shelby,Jeff Sessions,and many more who left after they got all the money they could from defense contracts,where double dealing,and hiding everything they could from the media.

[liberal_at_heart]

91. He was one of their best journalists.

It just doesn't make any sense to ignore mental trauma. What did they plan on doing? Ignore it until one day he came in and shot up the studio? This was just a senseless and stupid decision on CNN's part and Michael Ware did the right thing. I wish him all the best. He is a fantastic journalist.

[DFW]

82. He wasn't even serving his own country, he was serving ours.

Ware is from Australia

[ooglymoogly]

88. Doesn't matter a fig where he is from; He was

performing a service to humanity, of which we are all a part.

[Divine Discontent]

35. uh, you'd THINK they'd give him a month or two off! he's really good. Shows CNN doesn't know talent

& is willing to cut its nose to spite its face!

Morons.


MSNBC snatch him up with a contract to start working in 6-10 weeks!!!

[CrispyQ]

55. Wolf Blitzer also shows they don't know talent.

Too bad about Ware. He's much better than anyone else on that pathetic station. I hope you're right about MSNBC!

[abelenkpe]

59. LOL! Wolf Blitzer is an embarrassment.

Why CNN sticks with that loser is beyond me.

[butterfly77]

87. I'll 2nd that..

[johnfunk]

75. Wolfie's an alumnus of Pat Robertson's fake news CBN operation

Blitz THIS, CNN...

[stray cat]

3. Michael Ware has been outstanding - what a shame

[dipsydoodle]

14. ditto

.

[PatSeg]

52. Could be for the best

He can do better than CNN. They don't deserve him.

[bunny planet]

4. MSNBC should hire him after he's had a chance to rest.

[peace frog]

23. They should snap him up while he's still available

Michael Ware is as good as it gets. CNN = EPIC FAIL.

[BeyondGeography]

5. They should have taken care of him

He was the only thing they had worth watching during much of the Iraq war. His reporting was heroic and you could see it was starting to have an effect om him.

[Jennicut]

6. CNN sucks. They already lost Christiane Amanpour.

Ware deserved as much time off as he needed.

[Dappleganger]

12. She quit?

Wow!

[leftynyc]

15. She got the ABC gig

on the Sunday show This Week (formerly hosted by George Stephanopolous).

[Mojeoux]

50. Good for Her!

I'll never forget when I heard Yassar Arafat call her a "stupid woman."
Grrr that pissed me OFF.:grr:

[Jefferson23]

7. This guy was about the only good thing about CNN. They have to be

one of the dumbest and most unethical news networks. CNN's ratings are plummeting, and they won't help this
guy out, he gave them legitimacy.

Fucking assholes.


All the best to Ware, hope he recovers, your work was appreciated, even if not by CNN.

[still_one]

19. In the early parts of the ware during the bush era, he was pretty pro Iraq war /nt

[Jefferson23]

20. And how did he end up, solid reporting, no? I believe, yes.

[still_one]

21. I wish him the best either way, but in my view he was kind of nuts for a war reporter /nt

[Jefferson23]

31. I'm not looking for an argument here, but what do you mean he was kind of nuts?

Just curious.

[still_one]

37. He always seemed that he was on cocaine. Either he should not have been doing that

line of work, or he gets an adrenaline high from risk

That is just my take, and its OK if you think I am full of it

[Jefferson23]

65. I don't think you're full of it still_one, we just don't agree.

Perhaps that adrenaline rush was a sign to come of his mental stress from the job.

[zipplewrath]

8. The shame is he wasn't pulled years ago

They're using people up to bring us bad news. The guy was sick for years.

[izzybeans]

9. I'd file for worker's comp. Sounds like a work related problem to me.

Stick them in court.

[Sherman A1]

10. FMLA?

Doesn't that apply?

[lonestarnot]

76. Not legal advise but,

he should not have quit. He had enough time in to be covered. All he had to do was request under FMLA and CNN has enough employees for him to be covered. :shrug: Maybe he just doesn't want to work for their stinking asses any more. :shrug:

[CoffeeCat]

11. This is brutal and heartless...

Ware developed PTSD due to his job. CNN should have, at the very least, given
him some time to heal and decompress.

How can they be such heartless jerks?

This is no different from someone being physically injured in a factory. Ware
sustained injuries due to his job. I would think this would be a clear-cut
case of someone who deserves disability.

I can't help but think that the universe is helping Ware to find other paths. Is
CNN really the outlet where he can make the most difference? Ware has undoubtedly
seen and heard things in Iraq that have yet to be reported. I imagine that CNN is
too small for the big story that Ware has to tell.

Perhaps, this is a gentle nudge out of the nest---to a better place where he can speak
freely and really tell the story. If he has PTSD, he was forced to put traumatic
emotions on the back burner--in order to do his job. Maybe he could finally speak
out about what he experienced--no holds barred--and start processing that trauma
by speaking out.

It's obvious that CNN doesn't deserve Ware's story. Would they even tell it?

Run, Mr. Ware, run---to a better place. This is an opportunity.

[wisteria]

13. Now that is a shame, Ware was one of their best reporters. n/t

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. In other news... CNN losing market share.

[krkaufman]

17. That's messed up. I felt somewhat bad for CNN's plummeting ratings before ...

... but not so much, now.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

22. Do they have any journalists left? nt

[ooglymoogly]

25. They have Wolfie.

do I need a sarcasm button?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

38. No need . I do have the highest respect for Derek Zoola..... I mean Anderson Cooper.

It took a lot to type that with a straight face. :evilgrin:

[renate]

58. Hmmm. I like Anderson Cooper

As Gloria Vanderbilt's son he could have been a trust-fund do-nothing, but he puts himself in dangerous situations all the time. Including spending New Year's Eve with Kathy Griffith (who cracks me up, but it must be stressful for him). Also, I remember one time when Ellen DeGeneres had sent some mittens and scarves and stuff to the CNN talking heads who were covering something on a balcony outside during the winter--the inauguration maybe?--and were freezing. He was the only one who was properly and politely appreciative, putting on this immensely long scarf that everybody else had rejected. Those good manners sealed the deal for me. Also, he seems to have an appealing sense of humor.

Not that you ought to like him just because I do. I'm just sticking up for my Anderson. :)

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

61. Hey to each his own. Likewise I won't expect anyone to agree with me that he's

pretty much in line with the other useless talking heads in the media...... But much "prettier". :evilgrin:

[Hannah Bell]

85. the fact that he's a vanderbilt is why he got the job. how is that his "merit" & why

should he be there rather than some plebe?

During college, he spent two summers as an intern at the Central Intelligence Agency. Although he technically has no formal journalistic education, he opted to pursue a career in journalism rather than stay with the agency after school,<6> having been a "news junkie" "since I was 'in utero.' "


Uh, sure, anderson.

After Cooper graduated from Yale University, he tried to gain entry-level employment with ABC answering telephones, but was unsuccessful. Finding it hard to get his foot in the door of on-air reporting, Cooper decided to enlist the help of a friend in making a fake press pass. At the time, Cooper was working as a fact checker for the small news agency Channel One, which produces a youth-oriented news program that is broadcast to many junior high and high schools in the United States.<9>


Channel 1 - chris whittle's outfit. mrs. chris = agnelli family heir.


Cooper then entered Myanmar on his own with his forged press pass and met with students fighting the Burmese government.<7> He was ultimately able to sell his home-made news segments to Channel One.


just waltzed into burma, did he? little andy.


After his first correspondence work in the early 1990s, he took a break from reporting and lived in Vietnam for a year, during which time he studied the Vietnamese language at the University of Hanoi. Speaking on his experiences in Vietnam on C-SPAN's Students & Leaders, he said he has since forgotten how to speak the language.


riiight.


patrician family, yale, cia, overseas experience in contested locations.


standard bio of fake tv news person/intelligence operative.

[tsuki]

36. Nick Clegg, the media's invisible man? I love

the fact that he is surging in the polls. Can Baby Rupert bring him down?

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

39. I'm starting to despise Baby Doch as much as Papa Doch. nt

[Wizard777]

26. We want Michael Ware! We want Michael Ware! We want Michael Ware!

But we can wait until he's feeling better. That's one of the benefits of being much liked and greatly respected. We know his reporting is well worth waiting for.

[The Damned]

27. THAT FUCKING SUCKS!!!

He was the best goddam war correspondent of ANY network!!!!!

[City Lights]

28. Another reason to despise CNN.

Not that another reason was needed...

CNN, your compassion is underwhelming. :thumbsdown:

[greenbird]

29. Yeah, let Ware leave, but

by all means hang on to that Wolf Blitzer.

[AngryOldDem]

30. Wow. He is really, really good.

He deserves better than CNN. I hope he gets the rest, recovery, and help he needs.

[kjackson227]

32. It's ashame that networks don't honor true journalism anymore...

which is exactly what Ware represents.

[florida08]

33. thanks kpete

for posting this. We love Michael and have wondered where he went. I hope the posters on this thread will read the article in the
http://www.mensjournal.com/cnns-prisoner-of-war">Mens Journal. Brought tears to my eyes. Michael was almost executed in Baghdad. I remember him talking about it on Bill Maher's show.

Excerpt
“I can’t stand the media, but I would go through hell with a bucket of gasoline for Michael Ware,” says Sergeant Bellavia, who was nominated for the Medal of Honor for his service in Fallujah. “He goes through all the things we go through — 55 cigs a day, no sleep. And if we were allowed to drink, we’d drink as much as he does.

[julian09]

34. His book should be a success,

I hope he recovers soon and he repeats his considerably knowledgable reporting on the issues
of the region. Hell, I even seen him reporting on the drug cartels in Mexico.
I know that msnbc has Richard Engle, hope Fox doesn't get him as they did so many cnn personalities.
Maybe they can send Rick over to replace him there.

[Echo In Light]

40. Profit Over People

[malaise]

41. Just listening to Ware it was obvious

that he was suffering from PTSD. Fuck CNN.

[al bupp]

42. Bad Call by CNN

Ware was one of the few CNN correspondents worth paying attention to, IMHO.

[MrScorpio]

44. Shame on CNN nt

[mod mom]

45. Shameful.

[thereismore]

47. And to think that this guy didn't even have to kill anybody... just reporting did it to him. nt

[obxhead]

48. CNN, working hardest at becoming the most ignored name in news.

It's the MSM though, I wouldn't expect anything different.

[WeDidIt]

49. Ware needs to get an attorney

He could have a good lawsuit.

[political_Dem]

51. That's awful news. PTSD is not to be played with--especially with the type of work Ware did.

[Blue Owl]

53. No surprise from a POS network

Just like that Blankenship asshole -- they'd deny him leave to attend his own fucking funeral.

[timefortherevolution]

69. That was brutal. How much news coverage did THAT get?

I hope Blankenship burns in hell.

[Blacksheep214]

54. Just another reason

not to watch CNN.

They lost me a long time ago when they got stupid.

[Ticonderoga]

57. Simple.

Just say hell no to fox lite. They suck.

[SoCalDem]

60. Ware was a "loose cannon", and they were probably looking for a way to cut him.

He often said things that had to rattle the CNN brass.

They have gotten used to Blitzer-esque "reporting", and real reporters scare them. They had the same thing with Amanpour and the Canadian reporter who got canned on a campaign bus tour (forget her name just now).

They like Cream of Wheat..not Spicy Salsa

[cynatnite]

62. Fucking bastards. n/t

[WillyT]

63. And After ALL THE MONEY They Made By Promoting That War !!!

:puke:

:mad:

:wtf:

:kick:

[depakid]

64. Memo to Mike: don't expect fair and honest treatment from an American corporation

You need to come home to Oz for that... plus, we have better news shows that won't cramp your style of telling it like it is.

[Bluebear]

66. People, he HAD to leave this network.

After all, he's a journalist.

[era veteran]

67. Best corespondent in the field! Stupid CNN rides again

How many years was he in country? He has looked overworked for several years.

[timefortherevolution]

68. The true enemy is this corporatacracy.

Pretty unbelievable.

I watched a segment a few years ago where Ware figured out that he had
been lured into a trap..he was a highly valued target for a killing.

His guide talked the crowd out of it but you could clearly see how close
Ware knew he was to being killed.

Great job CNN!! Nice gratitude for years of incredible reporting!

[eagertolearn]

70. If you get "injured" on the job that is a disability. He should be able

to get workmans comp. or sue.

[sam sarrha]

71. i have PTSD from a horrific accident, compounded by PTSD from doctors experimenting on

on me for nerve grafting.. resulting in horrific skin grafts where they grafted my wrist to a strip if bloody raw meat from my side.. it was tethered there for a month,it all ruined my health. there was no saving it from the beginning, year and a half of torturous therapy 4 surgeries up to 5 hours. 6 weeks total in the hospital.. i'm 61 years old, i told them to just stop, cut the damned thing off.. they scheduled me for an amputation in 4 days, sent me home the day after the surgery, .. got a terrible infection, could have resulted in more being amputated but having had flesh eating bacteria from a previous surgery i checked the bandage early, they were going to leave it on way too many days without attention.

PTSD is really strange, i cant even read my email, i have paralyzing Aversion to the simplest things. flashbacks that make me yell loudly.. i cant imagine how bad war PTSD would be. i'm just glad i'm 12 years sober.. i dont watch TV news anymore, it's all corporate whore bullshit.

we should all go to CNN.com and tell them what we think... see ya there

[Jefferson23]

72. What a nightmare, sorry to hear the doctors were of so little use to heal your pain.

[sam sarrha]

90. they caused 90% of it reattaching a dead hand.. i'm too old to ever have nerves regrow, my point is

that i am nearly non functional from PTSD from one accident.. those poor soldiers have to see worse every day for years, see their friends die.

16 soldiers commit suicide every day.. the Muslims aren't killing that many.!! 5000 soldiers have committed suicide iraq/afgoneastan


http://www.armywell-being.org/skins/WBLO/display.aspx?ModuleID=f6c229ca-03ae-4c81-8d0a-81a5a0c208f9&Action=display_user_object&CategoryID=d5e2fcaf-4af6-4d14-8043-e8a82c8cb172&ObjectID=2c9b854d-f815-493d-a99c-2e6f87e9a9e2

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695198214,00.html


i was told by my doctor that if i seek help for ptsd i had better have a secure job and good insurance. if i seek mental health care i could get dropped. and if i lost my job i would most likely not be able to get insurance again. there is a company that gets all the records of prescriptions filled in the entire country. and they sell the info to insurance company's. if you get antidepressants you could be dropped. and/or denied future insurance. that was depressinger

[Jefferson23]

92. That is beyond horrible, and just another reason I support single payer.

I don't know when we'll ever see that come to fruition.

I wish you all the best.

[sam sarrha]

94. thanks.. i'm checing local support groups and on line forums.

[orbitalman]

73. The only thing I thought was wrong with Michael Ware was...

that his nose was crooked ;) I listened to him time and again and believed his reporting was insightful, thorough and understood. I hope he gets something with Huffington Post or some-such.

[GETPLANING]

74. CNN's loss is our loss.

Ware is a great reporter and journalist. The last few times I have seen him, the toll of working in the war zone was obvious. He looked like he was cracking up. I sincerely hope he gets treatment and gets his head back on straight. I also hope he shares what he goes through on the road to recovery.
When he is ready, that is.

Oh, yeah, FUCK CNN.

[1776Forever]

77. Ware was THE BEST ever! I wish him peace and a better future. Very very sad that CNN dumped him!

He will be missed but he needs to heal. And not only Iraq but the reports about the cartels in Mexico were brilliant!

[texasleo]

78. Michael Ware was too good for CNN, imo. He is a citizen of the world.

[myrna minx]

79. I completely support Michael Ware. CNN doesn't deserve him. K&R n/t

[w4rma]

81. AOheiL execs have completely taken over CNN. I want the station to go down with FOX now. (nt)

[DFW]

83. CNN was already the second worst political team on television

They still couldn't descend lower than Fox, even if Fox can't be classified as a news station.

They keep Blitzer but lose Amanpour. That's like keeping your LADA while losing your Mercedes.

[iamthebandfanman]

84. wow... pls go to msnbc! n/t

[miyazaki]

89. Lame. I remember when they cut their science reporter as well.

Oh but they kept their goon travel reporter!

-Now when they have any live
science related breaking news, they bumble around like fools to get
whoever they can via telephone to fill up the time.

[NotThisTime]

93. He's a hell of a reporter, but then again, CNN doesn't seem to want to report the news...

Hopefully he will find peace and then find another job

[Rex]

95. CNN is a garbage news organization, almost as bad as Fox News.

What a bunch of idiots, CNN made their business off of the first Gulf War and fabricated a lot of the hype on the beaches while the military was trying to do their job. One of the sickest sights I've ever seen - that is CNN.