Posted on 03/28/2003 8:31:36 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Not only have antiwar protesters been complaining about the war in Iraq, they're now accusing the media of bias in favor of the Bush administration.
They say the television networks are so patriotic that they're blinded to broadcasting the truth. On Thursday, more than 200 people were arrested in New York during a series of protests, including some involved in a scuffle near CNN's offices.
And earlier this week, demonstrators marched in front of the CNN bureau in San Francisco to protest what they said was a lack of reporting about Iraqi casualties and too much coverage of American patriotism by major news operations.
"There is definitely room for criticism," said Marguerite Moritz, a professor and associate dean of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Colorado in Boulder. "What has been lacking in the news coverage I've seen is the perspective of other countries that do not support this (war)."
She adds that "with the media's lack of focus on the economy and the cost of the war, you could interpret that as a sign of support for the Bush administration."
But Moritz stopped short of saying that the reporters have been biased.
"I've been interested in watching the embedded journalists, especially on the television side," Moritz said. "It's hard to see that a reporter could be anything but caught up with the spirit and culture of people they're traveling with."
During the Gulf War, the media were criticized for failing to inform the America public about the war. The media, in turn, complained bitterly that the U.S. government was doing all it could to keep them far from the front lines.
This time around, dozens of reporters have been placed in specific units equipped with videophones that let them broadcast live, if jerky, pictures from the front lines, subject to military approval. While the reports have been dramatic and compelling at times, the fact that the reporters are occasionally under fire can probably pose a challenge to their ability to be impartial. After all, they can't exactly walk over and interview the Iraqis taking pot shots at them.
"If you're a reporter covering the war, you're damned if you do (have access to the front lines) and damned if you don't," said Dante Chinni, a senior associate at the Project for Excellence in Journalism in Washington, a research organization.
While many protesters have blasted CNN for its coverage of the war, others single out Fox News.
"With Fox, there is a lot more `we, are, us' in their descriptions of what the troops are doing and a lot more administration point of view -- and they're not shy about it," said Chinni. "They make a point of it."
Fox dismissed that kind of talk.
"People have a hard time accepting fair and balanced coverage," said Robert Zimmerman, a Fox News spokesman in New York.
Competing interests
And of course, the media have to balance many interests.
"Like the Democratic candidates for the Presidency, the journalists have to ask themselves, 'How do we criticize the President and not look like we're traitors to the military at a time when people are losing their lives in a war?'" Moritz noted.
Democratic Sen. Tom Daschle found out how hard that can be when he chose to blame Bush's diplomatic failure for the lives that would be lost in the war. His remarks, on the very eve of the start of hostilities, drew a firestorm of Republican criticism in reply.
Of course, the White House press corps hasn't exactly distinguished itself in recent days either. Shortly before the war started, Bush held one of his rare press conferences, one that looked like it was heavily scripted with reporters being called on in turn. The reporters looked weak and foolish.
"There has been plenty of room to criticize the role of the press, going back to the Bush press conference before the war started," Moritz said. "If reporters were denied access, there would be a different kind of criticism," Moritz said.
Polling results
Who is watching the war coverage of what network?
On Thursday, Utica, N.Y.-based pollster Zogby International said its findings show that America's all-news networks are the most widely viewed for coverage of the war in Iraq. The poll included 1,011 likely voters interviewed March 24 and it has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2 percent.
CNN was cited by 25 percent of the respondents, followed closely by Fox News at 22 percent. News and entertainment networks ABC and NBC were tied with 14 percent of the viewers, followed by MSNBC and CBS, which each drew 10 percent [CBS, through its parent Viacom (VIAB: news, chart, profile), is a significant investor in MarketWatch.com, the publisher of this report].
Nearly three in ten Democrats cite CNN as the network they watch most, while 27 percent of the Republicans and 26 percent of the independents chose Fox News, said John Zogby, the head of the company.
The CNN factor
Zogby noted that CNN was the first choice of all of the age groups, while ABC tied for second place with Fox News at 19 percent of viewers by the 18-24 year-olds. Fox News was second in every other age category. Among those 70-plus years of age, ABC and NBC were tied for third place at 16 percent of that group.
Some 81 percent of those who named Fox News as their network of choice said they supported the war, compared to 18 percent who opposed it.
Seven in ten of NBC's viewers supported the war, with 27 percent opposed. It. The viewers of the other networks, on average, support the war effort two to one.
Even though Fox News had higher TV ratings than CNN in the first week of the war, CNN was, nonetheless, a magnet for controversy when it came to assessing the role and performance of the media.
In San Francisco this week, for example, more than 150 activists convened outside of CNN's offices at 50 California St., the San Francisco Chronicle reported, "to denounce what they believe is unbalanced media coverage of the war in Iraq."
Said CNN spokeswoman Edna Johnson: "While we fully support the First Amendment rights being exercised by these protestors we disagree with their claims. CNN has covered this story from all sides...we continue to report on both the war and the anti-war story on a daily basis and hear regularly from viewers offering both praise and protest about our coverage.
"As for reporting on casualties, American or Iraqi, CNN is committed to covering this war as comprehensively as possible while being mindful of the sensitivities of our audience and the families involved," Johnson said.
Like it or not, I agree - the media aren't biased.
The media declares that the media isn't biased.
Thanks,
Ted
Could they be "manipulating" the news at CNN? DUH, they have been "protest central" for months, with virtually no mention of the "pro" gatherings. They have never reported on just "who" is organizing these events and "why".
Demonstrator taken to hospital after drinking hot cocoa {Pro-America protestor poisoned}
Columbia Professor hopes "a million Mogadishus" are visited on U.S. Troops
Thunderous applause and whistles greeted anthropology professor Nicholas De Genova's sick desire that "a million Mogadishus" be visited on U.S. soldiers fighting in Iraq."
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