A journalist hired by The New York Times to report on a controversial mosque at 9/11's Ground Zero and the failed Christmas Day bomb plot previously held a government lobbying position at the Council on American Islamic Relations.
The Associated Press and ABC News also enlisted former CAIR workers to cover stories involving the Muslim community, raising concerns over whether it's ethical for objective media outlets to hire ex-advocacy group employees to report on the issues they previously championed.
Sharaf Mowjood, who helped pen the Islam-focused articles for The New York Times and the Times' world-affairs paper the International Herald Tribune in December of 2009, worked as a government relations coordinator for CAIR up until at least March of 2008.
Mowjood's gushing, 1,200-word article on the controversial mosque planned for construction near the former site of the 9/11 World Trade Center attacks was titled "Muslim Prayers and Renewal Near Ground Zero." All eight of the sources cited in the piece said they approved of the project or lauded its advocate Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf.
"Those who have worked with him say if anyone could pull off what many regard to be a delicate project, it would be Imam Feisal, whom they described as having built a career preaching tolerance and interfaith understanding," read the enthusiastically pro-Rauf article, which was double bylined with reporter Ralph Blumenthal.
The proposed ground zero mosque has elicited anger from family members of 9/11 victims who said the project would be disrespectful to the thousands of people murdered in the name of Islam during the 2001 World Trade Center terrorist attacks. However, Mowjood's article made no mention of legitimate criticism against the planned mosque. Instead, it portrayed opponents of the prayer center as sources of potential anti-Muslim violence.
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