CNN Correspondent in Libya Says Fox News Team Is "Lying"

A senior CNN reporter said today that the Fox News crew covering the fighting in Libya plainly lied when it reported journalists were being used as "human shields" by the Libyan government.

In an "exclusive" story from Tripoli, Fox reporters Jennifer Griffin and Justin Fishel wrote:

British sources confirmed that seven Storm Shadow missiles were ready to be fired from a British aircraft, but the strikes had to be curtailed due to crews from CNN, Reuters and other organizations nearby. Officials from Libya's Ministry of Information brought those journalists to the area to show them damage from the initial attack and to effectively use them as human shields.

But just a few minutes ago, CNN correspondent Nic Robertson fired back at Fox, declaring, "When you come to somewhere like Libya, you expect lies and deceit from a dictatorship. You don't expect it from the other journalists."

Robertson says he and his colleagues were never used as shields, and that, in fact, reporters were hurried out of talks with Libyan officials when the bombing began, not used to protect the regime from violence.

In the end, Robertson also had some sharp words for Steve Harrigan, Fox News' man on the ground in Libya: "I see him more times at breakfast than out on trips with government officials here."

In other words, it's very possible Fox News' coverage of Libya is pretty shoddy. Surprise, surprise.