Numbers May Indicate Media Bias on Richard Clarke Story (SURPRISE!)

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 3/26/04 | Susan Jones

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - While hundreds of news reports mentioned Richard Clarke's criticism of Bush administration, relatively few of those reports also mentioned documents contradicting key elements of what Clarke said.

A search of the NEXIS news database shows that from March 24 through March 26, there were 872 news reports mentioning the name Richard Clarke.

Clarke is the former counterterrorism official who expressed support for the Bush administration when he worked at the Bush White House -- then blasted the Bush administration when he left.

Clarke's new book, saying that terrorism was not a priority for the Bush administration, came out this week, apparently timed to coincide with Clarke's appearance on Wednesday before the commission investigating the events leading up to 9/11.

Hundreds of news reports from March 24-46 discussed Clarke's contention that the Bush administration did not do all it could have done to protect the American people from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A NEXIS search of "Richard Clarke/Fox" and "Richard Clarke/Fox News" turned up only 130 stories, however.

A search of Richard Clarke/Chris Shays and Richard Clarke/Christopher Shays turned up 10 stories.

And a search for Richard Clarke/Fox/Chris Shays turned up only 2 stories.

The two-day search of the NEXIS news database was conducted at 7:10 a.m. EST Friday.

Fox News transcript

Fox News on Wednesday -- with White House permission -- released a transcript of an August 2002 White House background briefing, at which Richard Clarke described the handover of intelligence from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration.

"There was no plan on Al Qaeda that was passed from the Clinton administration to the Bush administration," Clarke told reporters in August 2002.

Clarke also said the Bush administration, in its first eight months in office, adopted a "new strategy that called for the rapid elimination of Al Qaeda." He said the Bush administration ordered a five-fold increase in money for covert action before Sept. 11, 2001.

And Clarke told reporters that in March 2001 -- months before the 9/11 attacks -- President Bush had directed his staff to "stop swatting at flies and just solve this problem" -- that problem being how to deal with al Qaeda.

On Wednesday, in his testimony before the 9/11 commission, Clarke seemed to contradict what he said at the August 2002 background briefing: "[M]y impression was that fighting terrorism in general and fighting Al Qaeda, in particular, was an extraordinarily high priority in the Clinton administration. Certainly, there was no higher priority," Clarke said on Wednesday.

Clarke also testified on Wednesday that terrorism was "an important issue but not an urgent issue" for the Bush administration.

Shays letter

In a letter to the 9/11 commission on Wednesday, Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.) told panel members that "Clarke was part of the problem before Sept. 11 because he took too narrow a view of the terrorism threat."

Shays said that before the Sept. 11 terror attacks, a House panel held twenty hearings and two formal briefings on terrorism -- and Richard Clarke "was of little help in our oversight."

"When he briefed the subcommittee, his answers were both evasive and derisive," Shays said in his March 24, 2004 letter.

Shays noted that "no truly national strategy to combat terrorism was ever produced during Mr. Clarke's tenure."

Shays also released a copy of a letter he wrote to Clarke on July 5, 2000, telling Clarke that Shays' subcommittee found the information Clarke had given them "less than useful," and asking him to answer additional questions.

And Shays released a January 22, 2001 letter he wrote to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, complaining that Clarke had not answered the subcommittee's questions. "During a briefing to this Subcommittee, Mr. Clarke stated that there is no need for a national strategy," Shays wrote to Rice.

"This Subcommittee, and others, disagree with Mr. Clarke's assessment that U.S. government agencies do not require a planning and preparation document to respond to terrorist attacks," Shays wrote.

[Peach]

Also, on a thread I cannot find, it was noted that Clarke's business partner (Casey?) has joined MSNBC to work as a consultant.

Also, as I'm sure you've all seen, Clarke has only ever donated to Democrats.

This is the most coordinated attack on the presidency I've seen since Watergate.

The DNC has been busy and we don't know what they have planned for an October surprise.

The press is doing everything it can to affect public opinion of the politically uninformed (which is about 85% of the voting public).

[LiteKeeper]

INTREP - CLARKE

[Owen]

WE HAVE A PROBLEM.

The Dems have arranged book publication as part of the campaign. Clarke was a nobody. No one had heard of him. The Dems orchestrated the invitation from the commission -- probably through a Dem member of the commission -- and also orchestrated the coordination with the publication schedule.

We must not let this happen again. Book Publication lets them define the news cycle. Authors are invited to come on TV and talk about their accusations and then suddenly it becomes news to say "The White House once again came under fire from a new book and its author who says . . . .

It's an excellent Dem tactic and it needs a counter.

Rove needs to be inside the various publishers to see what is coming next. And where are our own books in transit?

[Reagan Man]

>>>Shays noted that "no truly national strategy to combat terrorism was ever produced during Mr. Clarke's tenure."

Thank you Congressman Shays.

[petitfour]

Yep. The bio of Kerry came out the day after he won the first primary. It was no accident.

[AFPhys]

This is one of the most blatant examples of biased reporting that I've ever seen. It is NOT unexpected. I'm not even angry about this.

In fact, it will prove to be one of the most valuable examples we have ever had to counter the leftist arguments that the mediot outlets are conservative schills.

[NYCVirago]

Christopher Shays, along with Peter King, got tons of face time in the media when they came out against impeachment. But now that Shays and King, to their credit, have come out fighting on behalf of President Bush on various issues, their media face time has dropped down to nothing.