O’Brien In Space?: “A Dicey Situation”

As we all know, CNN correspondent Miles O’Brien was preparing to become the first journalist in space when the Columbia disaster happened two years ago. It “set up a dicey situation,” the Associated Press says: “O’Brien was covering NASA at the same time its leaders were in the position of deciding whether he would be able to travel in space.” The potential conflict was discussed internally at CNN.

“Definitely there were times that there were stories that came up, I’d be lying to you if I told you I wasn’t thinking about whether it would queer the deal,” he said. “There were times when I would give stuff to people like John Zarrella [CNN’s Miami correspondent]. It depended on the situation, how big the story was.”

The AP says O’Brien “had the same thoughts when questioning NASA officials. Was he challenging them or holding back? O’Brien said he couldn’t think of any time when he didn’t do his duty as a reporter.”