In something of a follow up to her comments last Friday blasting the liberal media, former CBS News journalist Lara Logan appeared on Fox News’s Hannity Wednesday night with a message for the liberal media folks now targeting her and her career: “[T]hey don’t get to write my story anymore. They do not get to speak for me, I want to say loudly and clearly to anybody who’s listening, I am not owned. Nobody owns me.”
After discussing her career of reporting from the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, the streets of Egypt, and almost being killed more than once, Logan described what it was like to have the liberal media try to now destroy her for speaking out against them:
It is obvious, right, because you get targeted and it is the same group of people. They’re already starting to target me again now. And I expected it. And you know, I was joking that I’m braced for fire and fury, because I know they’re going to come after me again. And I'm not the only one. I mean, the same people come after you, right?
Logan even named names, pointing to “Michael Calderon who was at the Huffington Post” and Joe Hagan of Vanity Fair and CNN media reporter Brian Stelter, whom host Sean Hannity immediately mocked as “Humpty Dumpty.” “I can literally give you the script now,” she exclaimed. “I mean, it’s the same people all the time. And they’re all saying the same things.”
“They come after Sharyl Attkisson, they come after you, they come after me. If there were any independent voices out there, if there are any journalists who are not beating the same drum and giving the same talking points, then we pay the price,” she added.
Discussing the liberal media’s retaliatory playbook, Logan explained: “They cannot take down the substance of what you're saying. Right? They cannot go after the things that matter. So they smear you personally. They go after your integrity. They tear after your reputation as a person and as a professional, and they’ll stop at nothing.”
Hannity wasn’t sure of Logan’s personal politics and told her as much. “Because it doesn’t matter,” she responded. “I'm not going to lie to you and pretend that I have no biases, that's just not true. Right? I mean, that’s a part of who we are as human beings. We all have opinions on things. I don't pretend that I don't have opinions.”
Logan also had a lot of praise for those in the media that did continue the tradition of high standards for journalism:
My point about the sources is that I’ve worked with so many great journalists, I can tell you many of their names, Sara Carter is one of them. I have so much respect for her work. And they are so many people at 60 minutes, and in many other places who I have such great respect for. And it's because, I didn’t invent this. Journalists have always needed two independent first-hand sources. That’s always been the standard that we work to. It’s not me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only one.
“People know. People know that we’ve slipped,” she lamented. “People know that when you’re not – when those are no longer your standards, that -- that raises questions if you’re honest.”
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Hannity
February 20, 2019
9:51:31 p.m. Eastern(…)
SEAN HANNITY: And I bring this up, because wow – I mean you risked your life to report. And I watched you on 60 Minutes I always thought you did a great job. And you say this, which is just the fact and it is the chronicled. Look at the media today. I say that I am a talk show host. I say I also do opinion, and news, and investigative reporting. I do it all. And 85 percent – I think it’s closer to 90 that are liberal, and you can see it. And you say you need two sources. That is so far gone. Why, if you tell the truth like that, do you believe that you’ve pretty much committed career suicide?
LARA LOGAN: It is obvious, right, because you get targeted and it is the same group of people. They’re already starting to target me again now. And I expected it. And you know, I was joking that I’m braced for fire and fury, because I know they’re going to come after me again. And I'm not the only one. I mean, the same people come after you, right? One of them, The Sparrow Project. I mean, this person was tweeting today, “Hannity watch out about Lara Logan’s stuff,” right? And there’s more coming. Michael Calderon who was at the Huffington Post. I can literally give you the script now. I can tell you who the players are: Joe Hagan, Brian Stelter. I mean, it’s the same people all the time.
HANNITY: Humpty Dumpty.
LOGAN: And they’re all saying the same things. They come after Sharyl Attkisson, they come after you, they come after me. If there were any independent voices out there, if there are any journalists who are not beating the same drum and giving the same talking points, then we pay the price.
You know what’s interesting, Sean, they cannot take down the substance of what you're saying. Right? They cannot go after the things that matter. So they smear you personally. They go after your integrity. They tear after your reputation as a person and as a professional, and they’ll stop at nothing.
So, you know, I am not the only one. And I am just, I am done, right, I am tired of it. And they don’t get to write my story anymore. They do not get to speak for me, I want to say loudly and clearly to anybody who’s listening, I am not owned. Nobody owns me. I'm not owned by the left, I’m not owned by the right.
HANNITY: I do not even know what your politics are. I really don’t.
LOGAN: Because it does not matter. Because it doesn’t matter. I'm not going to lie to you and pretend that I have no biases, that's just not true. Right? I mean, that’s a part of who we are as human beings. We all have opinions on things. I don't pretend that I don't have opinions.
My point about the sources is that I’ve worked with so many great journalists, I can tell you many of their names, Sara Carter is one of them. I have so much respect for her work. And they are so many people at 60 minutes, and in many other places who I have such great respect for. And it's because, I didn’t invent this. Journalists have always needed two independent first-hand sources. That’s always been the standard that we work to. It’s not me. I'm not alone. I'm not the only one. People know. People know that we’ve slipped. People know that when you’re not – when those are no longer your standards, that -- that raises questions if you’re honest.
(…)
HANNITY: I mean this sincerely, I hope my bosses at Fox find a place for you. I know you want to still do great work, and independent. I think it would be a service if you did. I hope that you telling truth does not end up in career suicide for you. We need the fair and honest investigative voices. The people that do look for the sources.
LOGAN: What’s funny, I heard one of your paid people on Fox saying, Lara sounds like a job interview to me. And going on to putting a whole lot of words in my mouth that actually I never said. Let's just be honest. Look at the interview, hear what I said, and then listen to him. You can see that I did not say that. I don't need to use – I don’t need to fall back into dishonesty. By the way, it’s not a job interview, right? I don't know if Fox would want to hire me. Because nobody is going to own me.
