|
Looking for bias { March 19 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/19/national/19CRIT.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/19/national/19CRIT.html
March 19, 2003
Left and Right Look for Signs of Bias in Reporting
By JIM RUTENBERG
Even before the likely onset of war in Iraq, the major television networks have come under increasing scrutiny by media watchdogs on the left and the right, looking for subtle and overt signs of journalistic bias.
Already, reporters' questions are being studied by politicians and media monitors on the right to see if they might show insufficient patriotism or undermine soldiers' resolve. The networks are also being given critiques by liberal groups, which contend that the news media are not showing enough skepticism over the case for war.
The criticism is informing a debate among television executives about what images to show from the conflict and what reports to broadcast if the fighting becomes bloody.
Yesterday, the Media Research Center, a conservative group, released a report criticizing ABC News for what it called liberal bias. The group said ABC News was the worst "offender" among the networks for "channeling Iraqi propaganda," "sanitizing radical protesters" and "championing France and the U.N. over the U.S."
Last week, 12 Republican congressmen, including Duncan Hunter, the Californian who is chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, signed a letter to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, raising pointed questions about his policy of allowing journalists to travel with American troops.
The congressmen said journalists — specifically Peter Jennings, the ABC News anchor — were asking soldiers "inappropriate" questions, like what anxiety they had about fighting. The congressmen asked Mr. Rumsfeld to explain why he was not imposing "censorship."
A liberal group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, said the broadcast and cable networks were paying inadequate attention to the potential civilian casualties that United States action in Iraq could cause, as well as failing to ask tough questions of the administration. The group released a study Monday night saying people who were skeptical of President Bush's plans had been underrepresented.
Network executives said they were doing their best not to be swayed by either side as they drew up their policies for coverage. But that will be easier said than done. If the conflict begins, there will be competing versions of the truth, quite likely with video images to support each. The networks will be closely watched for the pictures they choose to show.
In the gulf war in 1991, Peter Arnett, the CNN correspondent in Baghdad, was accused by competitors and some officials of giving excessive credence to Iraqi statements.
In the Afghanistan campaign, some networks were criticized by conservative groups for reporting on civilian casualties that the Taliban attributed to United States bombs.
Network executives said that they expected to have a wealth of vivid images to show and that they realized they would have to be careful in how they presented the material.
"Pictures can sometimes mislead," the president of the ABC News, David Westin, said.
ABC News, Mr. Westin said, would be careful to screen out unnecessarily gory images. On the other hand, he said, ABC News would be careful not to go too far and misrepresent the gore.
"That isn't to say we'll sanitize what happened," he said. "If we decide we need to portray to the American people what we're seeing, we'll show it."
About critics, Mr. Westin said: "Everybody is entitled to their opinion. We should always consider who is doing the criticizing."
Bill Wheatley, a vice president of NBC News, said that most of the criticism seemed to be from "people on the edges of this sort of debate."
Although those executives said they did not believe that the Republican lawmakers would affect Pentagon policy, they expressed discomfort with questions about censorship.
"The Bush administration has talked about this being a war in part designed to give the people of Iraq the types of freedoms we have," Mr. Wheatley said. "I find it surprising that a group of congressman is suggesting that our freedoms be restricted."
A spokesman for the Pentagon, Bryan Whitman, said that the Pentagon was pleased with the coverage by reporters stationed with troops and that it had no plans to change its policy on access.
Representative Cliff Stearns, Republican of Florida, who took the lead in writing the letter to Mr. Rumsfeld, said: "I'm just raising a flag. Just at the point we're going to war, I don't want reporters undercutting morale."
Timothy Graham, director of media analysis for the Media Research Center, said he was more concerned about what he called the tendency of mainstream network news to "glamorize protests."
"War is an interesting time," Mr. Graham said. "I don't think it's a time when all Americans turn into conservatives. It is a time when Americans of all different beliefs say, `I'm for America, what are you guys for?' "
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy
|
|
