Free Republic

Biased media coverage causes misconception of Iraq war By Collins Ezeanyim Last spring, a Battalion columnist argued the then-nascent war in Iraq was theologically unsound. In the column, it was stated there was no reliable evidence of a link between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida. The column resulted in e-mails from Aggies who disagreed with this fact, despite President George W. Bush telling reporters on Sept. 17, "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in 9-11," according to The Associated Press. Yet due to biased media coverage of the war, a frustrating number of Americans continue to believe Iraq...

<p>Amanpour: CNN practiced self-censorship CNN's top war correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, says that the press muzzled itself during the Iraq war. And, she says CNN "was intimidated" by the Bush administration and Fox News, which "put a climate of fear and self-censorship." As criticism of the war and its aftermath intensifies, Amanpour joins a chorus of journalists and pundits who charge that the media largely toed the Bush administrationline in covering the war and, by doing so, failed to aggressively question the motives behind the invasion.</p>

Is that boo-hooing I hear coming from Fox News, just across 48th Street from BusinessWeek headquarters in New York? Well, maybe I'm hearing things. But it sure is heart-warming to imagine Fox's supersized boss Roger Ailes and his fair-and-balanced band blubbering from the slap in the face a federal judge delivered to them recently. Fox had sued left-wing comedian and political satirist Al Franken for using the words "fair and balanced" in the title of his new book, Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right. The network that has wrapped itself,...

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, who once said that Ken Starr reminded him of the Nazi Heinrich Himmler, on Tuesday night, during a session with left-wing ranter Al Franken, denigrated the Fox News Channel as a bunch of "demagogues." Recalling how past demagogues like Joe McCarthy have "self-destructed," Olbermann raised the unsuccessful lawsuit against Franken for using the "fair and balanced" phrase and queried Franken: "Did you get some kind of comfort from this laughable lawsuit that maybe the latest set of demagogues are starting to fray at the edges and maybe headed towards self-destruction?" Olbermann wrapped up the September 2 Countdown...

    Fair and Unbalanced Racism     -     08/29/03      By      Rodolfo F. Acuna      Fox News and the O'Reilly factor have touched off a tempest in the      proverbial teapot by denouncing California Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante for      not renouncing his affiliation with a Chicano student organization of      which he was a member in the 1970s. These so-called journalists equate      MECHA with the Klu Klux Klan and violence, which at a time of general      hysteria over terrorism is irresponsible.      Moreover, the accusations happen to be unfounded and lack any probative     ...

<p>August 29, 2003 -- THE rise of an ardent, pas sionate, angry and en gaged left is the most im portant political story of 2003.</p> <p>The hottest book of the new publishing season is Al Franken's "Lies (and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them)." Joe Conason of the New York Observer has a fast-selling tome called "Big Lies." At the end of September comes "The Lies of George Bush" by David Corn of the Nation magazine, which will likely hit the bestseller list as well.</p>

<p>Listening to pundits on the left, it's hard to know who is more evil--George W. Bush or Rupert Murdoch. The president, some passionately believe, tricked us into war, which is of course bad. But Mr. Murdoch gave us the Fox News Channel. You decide.</p>

CNN refuses to be left out of the media bonanza Fox New whipped up last week by suing liberal comedian Al Franken. Atlanta-based CNN is bringing Franken on as a guest host on "Crossfire" Monday and Tuesday. He'll take the liberal chair across from regular conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for the half-hour debate show. Fox last week filed a lawsuit against Franken and his publisher, the Penguin Group, to stop them from using Fox's trademarked slogan, "Fair and Balanced" in the title of Franken's new book. Related: • Are these guys fair and balanced? You decide The book, called "Lies...