MSM Bias? WHAT MSM Bias?
Posted on 04/07/2006 7:44:12 AM PDT by genefromjersey
The Associated Press : Smear and Run Tactics ?
Much of what you read in your daily newspaper,or see on TV,comes from the Associated Press.
Once upon a time, the “AP” symbol at the beginning of a news story meant the story you were about to read was reasonably accurate,and reasonably free of political bias. Today, quite the opposite seems true !
Let’s look at a story that appeared in newspapers all over America this morning. “Fair Use” rules permit the quoting of one or two sentences, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
WASHINGTON - President Bush and Vice – President Dick Cheney authorized Cheney’s to aide to launch a counterattack of leaks against administration critics on Iraq by feeding intelligence information to reporters,according to court papers citing the aide’s testimony in the CIA leak case.
The article adds : “…the prosecutor,detailing the evidence he has gathered, raised the possibility that the vice-president was trying to use Plame’s CIA employment to discredit her husband,administration critic Joseph Wilson. “
WHOA !
The Prosecutor raised no such possibility ! Unlike the AP reporter,he has been extremely careful to avoid making such irresponsible statements ; careful to avoid this sort of partisan speculation.
The AP did not see fit to disclose the fact that much of the information given to the NY Times reporter was already in the public domain , or that the full text of the National Intelligence Estimate (minus a few redactions) was made public a few days later.
The AP reporter,in a word, was speculating – but refrained from making that clear : thus insuring that millions of Americans would read an editorial – masquerading as news.
This is hardly an isolated occurrence. The AP website showed the following headline and lede this morning:
Immigration Deal Held Up Over Amendments
By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - A Senate breakthrough on an immigration bill praised by leaders in both parties appeared endangered by partisan bickering over amendments from opponents.
Please note the use of the term “partisan bickering”- which apparently means “Republican resistance” to the AP writer. When the story appeared earlier this morning, it was accompanied by a photo of Senate Majority Leader Frist –gesturing with an upraised arm – next to the words “partisan bickering”.
A few days ago, the AP ran a big story about a Department of Homeland Security employee who had been arrested as the result of an Internet sting, after soliciting sex from someone he thought was a 14 year old girl.
AP “suggested ” the suspect was a political appointee,and that his arrest was yet one more embarrassment for a “troubled administration”.
Assorted left wing posters were having a field day with the story, until it was learned the man was not a political appointee, that he was a recent civil service hire, that he had previously worked as a staffer for Time,that he was a loyal Democrat ,and a Kerry / Move On supporter.
The AP did not bother to report any of that. They had already pulled what looked very much like a “ smear and run” attack.
Maybe it’s just me, but when I see similar incidents on an almost daily basis – (example: If a Bush administration member introduces a program, it is usually headlined as So-and-So defends new program-even when the accompanying story shows no one actually attacking the proposal ) – it’s clear to me the Associated Press has definitely moved away from the notion of impartial news-gathering.
I can’t help but wonder if AP stands for “Alarmingly Partisan” .
This a-wipe Wilson slanders the president and releases sensitive materials, and the media is shocked that the White House responds?????? What a bunch of idiots.
or, as rush calls them, the drive by media....
MSM Bias? WHAT MSM Bias?
But you are right and this is a great post.
Just look at the BS reporting from Iraq. All the AP does is report the friggin blow ups caused by the terorists. They give very few paragrpahs to the work that is being done over their. If it wasn't for Bill Roggio I would not have understtod the Al Anbar campaign. And of course its all frigging doom and gloom that the Iraqi government wont get it together. What BS.
Is there a thread on the liberal history of the perve in Homeland Security. I missed this part of the story.
Deep down I hoped this was the case.
You want to see something that will really make you mad? From a previous post of mine:
The statement the MSM has been making:
On July 18, 2003, the administration, facing criticism for the intelligence used to justify the war, declassified an eight-page part of the NIE dubbed "key judgments" and conducted a lengthy background briefing with reporters to discuss it.“Key judgments" is the operative word here, the “key judgements” documents were not declassified in July of 2003, they were declassified in October of 2002, six days after the NIE was complete per the following information:
On October 7, 2002 DCI Tenet sent a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee declassifying portions of its new National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq.
Another article:
A 25-page version of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was released in October 2002. It made clear-cut statements about Iraq's nuclear, biological and chemical weapons capabilities in two pages of "Key Judgments."A copy of the Key Judgments document can be found here. Warning: .pdf file.
As usual, the MSM gets it wrong.
It's time to declare a fatwa on the AP. Jihad, jihad!!!!
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