CNN Anchor Don Lemon (Courtesy Photo)
CNN news anchor Don Lemon recently received a dubious honor when he was named the “worst journalist of 2014” in the Columbia Journalism Review’s “recap of this year’s most cringe worthy news blunders.”
In its “Darts & Laurels” section of the magazine, authored by David Uberti, Lemon was blasted for a series of questionable and controversial choices. Uberti cited, among other examples, the questions Lemon posed during an interview with an alleged Bill Cosby rape victim and the comments he made while covering the Ferguson, Mo. protests, writing that “Lemon’s gaffes this year offer a case study in how to choose words wisely — or not.”
Uberti wrote:
“As one of the most recognizable anchors on CNN, Don Lemon has helped lead the cable network’s coverage of the biggest stories of the year. Live television is exceedingly difficult to produce, of course, but Lemon’s gaffes this year offer a case study in how to choose words wisely — or not.
On March 20, he asked guests whether Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 could have been swallowed by a black hole: “I know it’s preposterous, but is it preposterous?” He later compared spanking children to training dogs and probed similarities between the release of US Army POW Bowe Bergdahl and the Showtime series Homeland. When an alleged Bill Cosby rape victim appeared on his show on Nov. 18, he lectured, “You know, there are ways not to perform oral sex if you didn’t want to do it…Meaning the use of teeth, right?” Less than a week later, as protests turned violent in Ferguson, MO, he described the scene: “Obviously, there’s a smell of marijuana in the air.” Lemon’s job isn’t easy. But he’s earned a DART for going there. Obviously.”