CNN

CNN’s international downsizing goes beyond what we reported at two Asia bureaus last week.

CNN has halved the number of staffers in the Jerusalem bureau, from 8 to 4. An editor, producer, cameraman and desk editor were among those let go late last month.

“CNN has recently reviewed its worldwide operations, an exercise we do regularly to ensure operational and technological efficiency in everything we do,” a CNN spokesperson tells TVNewser. “As part of this exercise, we have reorganized the CNN bureau in Jerusalem.”

The website Dreuz.info, which first reported the news, says the dismissals go “beyond good management.” “CNN has fired four Israeli Jewish journalists, and has retained only Arab journalists,” the site reports.”

CNN rejects this, saying “there are Israeli Jews working in CNN’s Jerusalem bureau.”

The spokesperson adds, “We strongly reject any suggestion that the reorganization in the Jerusalem bureau is in any way based on the small number of contract employees concerned being Israeli, particularly given CNN’s long history of working with locals in the region.”

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Roland Martin, sidelined from CNN for the time-being, will meet with representatives of GLAAD this week following their successful call to have him removed from the network for sending out Tweets they say constitutes gay bashing.

It took two and a half days, from the time the Tweets were sent during the Super Bowl, until CNN’s announcement, that Martin would be suspended. CNN says it was “giving careful consideration” to the matter. But Tampa Bay Times TV critic Eric Deggans, who calls Martin “a friend,” thinks the mess shows an inconsistency on CNN’s part:

[C]onservative commentator Dana Loesch sparked a load of criticism by saying on CNN she would have joined in with U.S. Marines captured in a video urinating on dead Afghans. Despite condemnation of the action by U.S. government and military officials and complaints about her statement, Loesch was not suspended.

But when anchor Rick Sanchez made angry comments during a 2010 radio interview which some said were anti-Semitic (he denied that interpretation), he was fired. And so was Octavia Nasr, a CNN employee who was let go after tweeting of her sorrow over the death of a leader from terrorist group Hezbollah.

It is hard to discern a pattern or set of policies in all these precedents. What determines when someone gets fired or reprimanded? Is it just the difference between who complains about the mistake?

Martin’s suspension from CNN comes as MSNBC continues to weigh the future of its longtime political analyst Pat Buchanan, who has been off the air since last Fall. MSNBC sidelined Buchanan during his book tour. In early January, network president Phil Griffin said he’d soon be meeting with Buchanan to talk about the future, adding, “Pat is a good guy. Some of his ideas are alarming.”

CNN SVP and DC bureau chief Sam Feist fired off a letter to Brent Bozell, of the Media Research Center, after Bozell had criticized CNN, and other networks, for the lack of coverage of the Obama administration’s rule requiring religious schools and hospitals to provide employees with access to free birth control.

On Monday Bozell, founder of the conservative MRC wrote, “The broadcast and cable television networks need to report the current, unprecedented assault against freedom of religion in this country,” and singled out ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN as networks that had under-covered the story.

“We would respectfully request that you update your story and credit CNN with being among those that have been out front on this important story,” Feist writes to Bozell. “I would like to draw your attention to your own MRC/Newsbusters piece written by Tim Graham that credited CNN’s Candy Crowley with raising this issue on CNN’s State of the Union Program.”

TVNewser caught up with Bozell as he was catching a flight this afternoon. He’s gotten Feist’s letter and acknowledges, “Candy Crowley did a very good report, but one good report does not good network coverage make.”

“They were some 10 days late in getting into the story on CNN,” says Bozell, adding, “Everyone was minutes from reporting the Komen story. So, CNN could do a better job.”

See Feist’s letter after the jump…

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> Update, 2:14pmET: From CNN, “Roland Martin’s tweets were regrettable and offensive. Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being.”

> Original Story: It was business as usual last night for CNN political analyst Roland Martin. He was first chair on the panel discussing the voting in Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota. Meanwhile, there continues to be calls for CNN to remove him from the line-up over some Tweets he sent during the Super Bowl. Those calls remain the loudest from the group that started them, GLAAD, which says the Tweets constituted gay bashing.

Glenn Beck, no stranger to criticism for things he’s said, called Martin “a dope,” and an “idiot.” E!, owned by CNN competitor NBCUniversal, is asking readers in an online poll whether CNN should fire Martin.

CNN has yet to comment on the matter, and, at this point, probably won’t.

For his part, Martin wrote what he hoped would be the “final thoughts” on the issue Monday night.

To those who construed my comment as being anti-gay or homophobic or advancing violence, I’m truly sorry. I can certainly understand how someone could come to a different conclusion than the one I meant.

> More: GLAAD spokesperson Rich Ferraro responds to the suspension:

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Miguel Marquez, late of ABC News, will rejoin CNN as a Los Angeles-based correspondent, TVNewser has learned.

Until November, Marquez was a London-based correspondent for ABC News. He’d joined ABC from CNN in 2005. In his first CNN stint Marquez was an anchor at Headline News based at CNN in Atlanta. Marquez joined CNN in April 2003 from FOX affiliate KSAZ in Phoenix, where he was a reporter. Before that Marquez worked at WNBC in New York. He got his start at CBS News as a national desk assistant for the “CBS Evening News,” “48 Hours” and “60 Minutes.”

CNN political contributor Roland Martin is the subject of a GLAAD call to action with the organization demanding CNN pull Martin from its shows. (Watch the Beckham ad here)

GLAAD says Martin’s social media postings lately are akin to gay bashing — their words. At one point during the Super Bowl last night, Martin wrote:

GLAAD then took to Twitter, and Martin responded back:

TVNewser reached out to CNN which has not commented as of this writing.

> Update, 10:35am: More explanation from Martin, on Twitter:

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CNN and HLN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider celebrated the release of her book, Extreme Weather, at Eataly on Thursday night. Schneider and her guests — including chef Lidia Bastianich, who held a cooking class with the author before the book signing –

After the jump, find out who turned out for Schneider’s fete.

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CNBC’s Suze Orman went on “Piers Morgan Tonight” the other night to defend against the criticism of her prepaid debit card. “The people who are judging pre-paid cards today are out of touch with the poor people,” argues Orman.

ABC/CNN’s Christiane Amanpour educated Stephen Colbert on the volatile situation in Iran on his show last night. It was also an opportunity for Iranian-born Amanpour to promote her upcoming daily CNNI show. Colbert cracked, “CNN International: it’s just like regular CNN but in metric.”

Two of CNN’s Asian bureaus are experiencing staff cuts, TVNewser has learned.

The reorganization, as it’s being described, is affecting offices in Jakarta and Bangkok. These smaller bureaus usually have a staff of 4-5. And while confirming the reduction a CNN spokesperson could not reveal the number of staffers cut.

Currently, the bureaus do not have correspondents. Dan Rivers had been based in Bangkok, but moved to London. And Arwa Damon, who was based in Jakarta, has been in Beirut for more than a year covering the the U.S. military wind-down in Iraq and the Arab Spring.

CNN’s bureaus in Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo remain fully staffed and prepared to cover the South Asia region.