Posted on 03/23/2006 4:59:02 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
March 23, 2006
Call it the Ingraham Effect. Two days after Laura Ingraham sent shockwaves through the MSM with a Today show appearance in which she charged that the media accentuate the negative in their Iraqi coverage, and just the day after a palpably stung Today responded with a segment defending its coverage, Today led its show this morning . . . with good news from Iraq.
To be sure, Today would under any circumstances have covered the freeing of three self-styled Christian peace activists. Story here. But would Today have otherwise highlighted the story in the way that it did? In the show's very opening, Katie dramatically intoned:
"Good morning. Breaking news: US-led forces in Iraq launch a dramatic rescue operation and free three Western hostages." In fact, the news wasn't quite breaking. It had occured many hours earlier and had been widely-covered overnight.
Guest host David Gregory, who had aggressively sparred with Ingraham during her appearance, enthused: "What good news to report this morning. Those freed hostages. Two Canadians and a British national are safe this morning four months after they were kidnapped in Iraq."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsbusters.org ...
Today Show/NewsBusters ping.
They weren't "freed", they were rescued. The MSM does more of their subtle dirty work.
GO LAURA GO
Nice catch. So true.
Go Laura go, indeed!
Frame this segment of the Today Show, it will be the last of good news from them for a long time.
I sincerely appreciate the kind words. But don't thank me - thank the Prilosec OTC that makes it all possible ;-)
I agree..."ok, there ya go. Now that's IT! We now return to our steady drivel of death, mayhem and destruction. Film at 11."
bump
"This morning NBC News continued to defend itself against charges of aiding the Iraqi insurgency by airing a relatively positive story about progress in that war-torn country."
(file under "language we'll never see.")
I don't think it has anything to do with Ingraham.
They want to make a deal in hopeful preparation of having these anti-war guys on their show soon. What better than to have more negative talk about the war from hostages?
The "freeing" language was mine, not the Today show's. And believe me, I did not intend to belittle the role of the military. Obviously it was the military that freed the hostages. In any case, I have changed the word to 'rescue' in the NewsBusters article. You'll also note that I referred to the rescued people as 'self-styled' peace activists, reflecting my view that their actions do little or nothing to contribute to peace.
Nightline was also very concerned about Christians in Afghanistan last night, since it was a chance to make W look bad. "Is this why we went to war, to spread democracy, so this Christian convert could be executed?"
THREE Western hostages, including 74 year-old British peace activist Norman Kember, have been released from captivity in Iraq after a raid by coalition forces. The rescue operation took place in Mishahda, 20 miles north of Baghdad and involved special forces from various countries, including Britain.
Mr Kember and two Canadian colleagues were kidnapped in Baghdad last November along with an American, Tom Fox, whose body was found dumped in the Iraqi capital two weeks ago. The four had been working for a Canadian charity, Christian Peacemaker Teams. A previously unknown group, the "Swords of Righteousness Brigades" claimed responsibility for the kidnappings.
Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, said: "I understand that Mr Kember is in reasonable condition and he is now in the Green Zone. The two Canadians had to have hospital treatment. "I have got no further information that I can give you about the nature of this operation. It was an operation led by the multinational force. It involved British forces."
From yesterday:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1600861/posts
Indeed, Engel's report confirmed Ingraham's allegation that the MSM portray Iraq in a consistently negative light. At one point, Engel asserted that "reporting on everyday life is increasingly dangerous because life here is getting more dangerous." And incredibly, Engel closed by claiming that, if anything, NBC's coverage was . . . not negative enough.
When Gregory asked "is security the overall story?" Engel replied:
"Most Iraqis I speak to say most reporters get it wrong. The situation on the ground is worse than the images we project on television."
FLASHBACK:
http://www.mrc.org/cyberalerts/2005/cyb20050112.asp#1
Back live indoors, Engel concluded: "Ann, one of the things I'll remember most about this experience was as I was standing there obviously unarmed, feeling very exposed wearing a bright blue flak jacket was there was a soldier standing next to me. I didn't know him I hadn't even noticed him before. And suddenly as the gunshots were coming at us he came over to me and said, 'It's gonna be okay, don't worry.' And he actually stepped right in front of me protecting me with his body and started to return fire at the insurgents. And I just remember thinking that this is one of the small acts of heroism, I think you can say, that I so rarely get a chance to see and even less frequently report about. Ann."
David Gregory grilled White House spokesman Dan Bartlett on that issue on this morning's Today. Bartlett said that the President had used forceful language to emphasize that the proposed execution in Afghanistan of a Muslim convert to Christianity was not in keeping with the country's international obligations.
You may have been the victim, as we all are, of a subtle pro-terrorist nuance intiated by the Associated Press. The AP release on this story uses "freed" instead of rescue. It even makes it appear that Blair uses "freed" by placing the word immediately after his quote (though I don't know what he actually said). My local radio station was reading the AP copy and used "freed" but has now changed to "Rescued!" as the lead-in to the story. Someone must have called the station.
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