Fair And Balanced
posted in General |FAIR AND BALANCED
Media bias in reporting can be very subtle and not easy to spot. On many occasions, it isn't so much what is said by the TV and print journalists that counts — it's what isn't said. The other day, I ran across a very good example that makes the point.
The Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse fiasco has been headline news for weeks, and there are those who simply don't want the story to die. Since the prisoner abuse story broke several weeks ago, there have been over 200 news items (as of 6/1/04) broadcast by CBS, NBC, and ABC. During the same time period there have been any number of military citations (medals) awarded to men and women who have displayed valor and courage in the performance of their duties. Do you wonder how many of these medal winnig stories have been carried by CBS, NCS, and ABC during this time period? That's right, NONE. Obviously, these network gurus prefer to portray the military at its worst rather than show it at its best. Fair and balanced??
Go one step further. Ted Koppel and Peter Jennings made much of showing on TV the photos of soldiers killed in the Afghan and Iraqi wars. Hundreds of them. At the same time there have been over 3700 Purple Hearts issued to soldiers, sailors and marines wounded in action. How many stories have you read about those who have received Purple Hearts? Have you seen their photos extensively displayed during the evening news shows?? Not hardly.
We see on TV what the producers want us to see, and they prefer that the impressions we form are solidly based on one side of the story. It is truly a sad state of affairs when we watch or read the news and immediately wonder, “What aren't they telling us? Is this the whole story?” Clearly the predominance of the media are aligned against the Iraqi War and against George Bush.That's OK as long as it is broadcast as commentary or analysis – not news. We cannot directly control how the news is presented to us. But we can change channels.
I sincerely believe that much of the left wing bias stems from a rejection that we are engaged in a war with terrorism. They concede that there are a bunch of renegade degenerates in the Middle East who intend to harm us, but stop short of “war” in the sense that has historically been meant. And if there is another major terrorist incident, they immediately jump to the defensive position that it is “our fault”. Now is the time when we all should be rallying behind our troops, not degrading them and nit-picking. I just don't buy the idea that protesting against the war initiated on 9/11 is just another form of patriotism. And neither to I believe that anything is to be gained by breathing life into the Abu Ghraib affair week anfter week.