It was a bad week for journalists. Many in the traditional media felt besieged -- especially those who work for a place called CNN -- targeted for scorn by conservatives and for investigation even by their fellow journalists.

1. This Is CNN: This week was extra special for CNN as the network continued its crusade against the president. First, its staffers whined about Trump posting a pro wrestling video modified so Trump appeared to be fighting CNN. His opponent's head had been humorously replaced with a CNN logo. And then the network targeted the anonymous poster who created the meme.

That's where things got sticky. CNN's article made it clear they weren't publishing the name of the meme creator "because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology." The network added that he "showed his remorse" and "said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again."

Then came the kicker. The article added: "CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change." In other words, as long he acts in ways CNN approves of, the network won't reveal who he is and wreck his life. The term #CNNBlackmail trended on Twitter soon afterward as liberals and conservatives alike abused the network.

Andrew Kaczynski, who wrote the piece, has defended it, saying, "This line is being misinterpreted." But CNN's Chris Cuomo even tweeted out the idea of outing the man with the question: "Should CNN reveal name of Reddit user who made trump wrestling video? Had a lot of bigoted and hateful material on page and website."

The resulting chaos turned much of the internet against CNN. Being biased is one thing. Threatening online anonymity another. That led to even The New York Times trying to explain how such online battles evolve. "Remarkably, the CNN episode has managed to unite the notoriously fractious right-wing meme community under a common cause." Posters have revealed home addresses and more from several CNN staffers in response and have claimed they will keep fighting.

The network probably wishes the whole thing would just go away. The online community isn't likely to let that happen.

More Worst Media Moments at the link:

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2017/...ents-week.html