| CNN reporter, crew detained over pictures Trio released; equipment confiscated 04/13/2001 Associated Press
NEW YORK – CNN's aggressive efforts to cover the release of the U.S. spy plane's crew led Chinese authorities to detain a reporter.
CNN used new videophone technology to get exclusive live pictures Wednesday of the 24 American crew members leaving Hainan, China, on a chartered flight to Guam. Front-page photos in The New York Times and The Washington Post credited the cable network.
CNN reporter Lisa Rose Weaver and a two-person crew transmitted the pictures after rigging their videophone to a car battery for power, said Eason Jordan, CNN's president of newsgathering.
During a live transmission, the videophone showed a carload of Chinese authorities pulling up and stopping the crew from taking pictures. Mr. Jordan said the authorities accused CNN of reporting in an illegal manner and using unauthorized equipment.
Ms. Weaver and her crew were held for questioning for four hours, and the videophone was confiscated, he said.
"We're very respectful of the authorities, but CNN is in the news business and this was a major story," Mr. Jordan said. "We were not doing anything but reporting and showing the news."
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