MediaWatch: June 1988
Table of Contents:
- MediaWatch: June 1988
- Study: Primary Concerns
- NewsBites: ABC's Anti-Bush Campaign
- Revolving Door:Carolyn Gorman
- Harvey and Maybeth Go Left
- Janet Cooke Award: Front Line: Joining the Christic Cause
NewsBites: ABC's Anti-Bush Campaign
ABC'S Anti-Bush Campaign. Three days before the June 7 California primary ABC's Jim Wooten declared that George Bush's close connection to conservative Reagan Administration policies means big trouble for the Vice President.
Wooten's evidence: the views of two liberal Democrats. "San Francisco's former mayor, Diane Feinstein," Wooten stated, "doubts Reagan's current muscle and insists Bush's environmental record will hurt him here."
Then Wooten found Democratic House Speaker Willie Brown who "says Bush isn't helped by his past." Brown charged Bush's "almost servant-like attitude toward the Reagan policies on civil rights and what have you, doesn't play well in California." Wooten failed to mention Brown was Chairman of Jackson's California campaign.
On June 6 ABC's Joe Bergantino described Michael Dukakis, who has a well established record of promoting liberal policies as Governor of Massachusetts, as a "seemingly moderate, passionless, East Coast politician." Bergantino credited his "finely crafted combination of issues and image-making" for his popularity.
These issues include the economy. According to Bergantino "California's lingering unemployment problem makes the Dukakis message of economic opportunity especially appealing here." Since California's unemployment rate has been hovering around five percent all year, well below the national rate, it's a little difficult to understand what "problem" so concerned Bergantino.
Not Posted. Talks between the Sandinistas and Contra leaders broke down on June 9. The following day Contra leader Adolfo Calero held a press conference to condemn the Sandinistas for violating the Sapoa accords. The Post ignored the news. On Sunday June 12 the Post carried a front page story from Managua describing how Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega blamed the U.S. for the collapse.
Two days later Contra leaders Calero, Alfredo Cesar, Ernesto Palazio and Enrique Bermudez held a press conference at the National Press Club. They offered evidence of Sandinista intransigence, describing how they were intimidated and harassed by negotiators. Cesar recounted how Defense Minister Umberto Ortega threatened their lives.
The Washington Times and New York Times carried the Contra side of the story the next day. But not the Post. The only mention of the Contras was a one sentence "Personalities" column reference to Calero attending the same book party as a Nicaraguan Embassy official.
One Reporter Tells on Ortega. Last month's MediaWatch Study revealed how TV network viewers have seen more than five times as many stories portraying the Sandinistas as trying to develop a pluralistic society than more frequent instances when they reaffirmed their totalitarian nature.
One example of what all the networks ignored: In a May Day speech, Nicaraguan dictator Ortega threatened to put the Contras before "a firing squad." Just as MediaWatch went to press, an ABC News reporter broke the media's self-imposed embargo on such developments. On the May 19 World News Tonight Peter Collins summarized the May Day speech and reported: "The Sandinistas are arresting strikers and imposing restrictions on news media, despite promises of freedom of the press." So far, however, no other network reporter has followed Collins' lead.
Rambling Ridicule for Rambo. Sylvester Stallone has released his third "Rambo" movie. And, once again, Big Media reviewers haven't been satisfied just to criticize the excessive violence or make fun of Rambo's superhuman exploits. They also ridiculed the anti-communist theme of "Rambo III" in which "John Rambo" travels to Afghanistan in order to rescue a friend captured by a sadistic Soviet Colonel. The movie portrays the freedom fighters as noble warriors and shows the Soviets machine-gunning innocent peasants and torturing prisoners, both well documented activities.
Writing in the May 30 Time, Richard Schickel complained about the film's "ludicrous cold war stereotype--the Soviet as gibbering sadist." Hal Hinson of The Washington Post went even further in disparaging its political message:
"Having an Afghan rebel speechifying about the barbarism of the Soviets just as their troops are pulling out has its downside, as does the film's idealization of the mujaheddin (who are characterized here as 'freedom fighters'). To claim that Rambo films have a political attitude is to dignify what is essentially a kind of reactionary paranoia."
To Russia With Love. "Oh, Mr. Gorbachev! You are so different from all the other boys! I think I'm falling in love with you!" The Hungarian pop singer featured on the May 26 NBC Nightly News couldn't have better summed up the media view of Mikhail Gorbachev and glasnost. On June 1 NBC anchor Tom Brokaw described Gorbachev as "once again a masterful example of the new Soviet politician." Here are a few examples of media attempts to foster an image of Gorbachev as a true reformer:
On Abuse of Dissidents in Psychiatric Hospitals (ABC, May 23) -- David Ensor outlined charges that dissidents are held in psychiatric hospitals, but still concluded: "Opening up the psychiatric wards to Western reporters and more importantly to Western doctors is a major concession for this secretive society. It could go a long way to clear up one of the main human rights grievances against the Soviet Union."
On Freedom of Speech (ABC, May 27) -- Peter Jennings portrayed Sergei Grigoryants, editor of underground magazine "Glasnost" as symbolic of the new openness in both the state and underground press. Jennings concluded: "Both [are] beneficiaries of the new mood in Soviet society. They both say they need Mr. Gorbachev. Because of him, they can go on sparking the Soviet imagination. Because of him, they can give their fellow Soviets a closer look at the truth." (But as Dan Rather noted the same evening, Grigoryants was recently jailed for "resisting authorities." Also omitted by Jennings: Soviet authorities confiscated Grigoryants' production equipment to put "Glasnost" out of business.)
On Human Rights Criticism (NBC, June 2) -- Sandy Gilmour covered several American disarmament and homeless activists who visited Moscow to praise Gorbachev. Gorbachev used the spectacle to defuse Western criticism of his human rights abuses; Gilmour went even further: "These scenes clearly satisfied Gorbachev and they indicated the extent to which his policies and personality have been able to attract not only his own people but foreigners as well."
Providing and Afghan Cover? It should have been seen as a victory for the brave mujaheddin freedom fighters in Afghanistan. After eight and one half years of occupation, one million civilian deaths, and millions of displaced citizens, the Soviets were finally withdrawing some of their 115,000 troops and getting out of Afghanistan. But most in the media viewed the event in a different light -- praising the Soviets as peacemakers and condemning the rebels for continuing their struggle.
ABC's David Ensor did his best to rally behind the Soviet cause. Reporting on May 15, Ensor legitimized the eight year occupation: "Some say the Soviets are retreating because they cannot win the war in Afghanistan, but they got a hero's welcome from the Afghan regime in Kabul today and they certainly seemed to feel like departing heroes." Reporting from Moscow, NBC's Garrick Utley singled out Mikhail Gorbachev as the true peacemaker in the Afghan situation. While Gorbachev in November 1987 reaffirmed his dedication to communist domination throughout the world, Utley misleadingly declared: "We should note again that the decision to pull out of Afghanistan was a major one for Mikhail Gorbachev and a clear signal...that Gorbachev's number one priority here is not foreign adventures but solving problems here at home."
Only Desmond Hamill of British TV, appearing on CNN, and CBS' Allen Pizzey actually visited mujaheddin areas. Hamill clearly outlined the only demand the resistance has, saying: "They do not want a communist government in Kabul, whether or not the Soviets are there." The Soviet government clearly wished to save face and manipulate U.S. press coverage of the withdrawal. So the Kabul regime denied CBS News access to ceremonies there. CBS Evening News foreign editor Don DeCesare suspects that it was because of the coverage CBS News has given the resistance over the years. A recent congressional study shows that in 1986 CBS Evening News gave twice and three times as much attention to Afghanistan as NBC or ABC did, respectively.
Disregarding the Truth. Regardie's, a small-circulation publication which bills itself as "the magazine for Washington business" is rapidly gaining a reputation as sloppy, dishonest, and biased against conservatives. A recent cover story, "Messing in Action," illustrates the point. Andrew Messing, Executive Director of the National Defense Council Foundation, took free-lancer Alicia Mundy on a trip to El Salvador to cover his humanitarian aid efforts. When the article appeared in Regardie's, Messing documented 41 factual errors in the piece. Some resulted from sloppy reporting. Others resulted from the article's effort to distort the truth. Still others were total fabrications. An example: Mundy opens the story describing a vicious firefight between Marxist guerrillas and Salvadoran soldiers who were escorting Messing and her. According to Messing, no such battle ever occurred -- a total lie.
Forced Wright. On February 19 conservative Congressman Newt Gingrich called for an investigation of ethical violations by House Speaker Jim Wright. All the TV networks ignored the story. Exactly three months later the liberal "citizens lobby" Common Cause called for the same thing. Suddenly, the issue became newsworthy. ABC's Ann Compton delivered a lengthy report that night and CNN PrimeNews gave it a brief mention. Five days later, on May 24, CNN's Pam Olson provided viewers with a full length story.
But the first peep from NBC didn't occur until May 26 when anchor Tom Brokaw devoted ten seconds to over 70 House Republicans demanding an official investigation. Though the CBS Evening News found time for six stories about the problems of Attorney General Ed Meese during the month of May, they waited until May 28 before broadcasting anything on the growing controversy surrounding Wright.
When the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct agreed on June 9 to launch an investigation, Wright charged the Reagan Administration with trying to distract attention from Meese. Within a couple of days some reporters were dutifully aboard the bandwagon, portraying Wright as the victim of the Reagan Administration "sleaze factor." The best example came from Candy Crowley during the June 11 PrimeNews:
"If Attorney General Ed Meese were not under investigation for alleged unethical behavior, if Reagan intimate Mike Deaver had not ben convicted of perjury, if former Reaganite Lyn Nofziger had not been convicted for ethical violations, would
House Speaker Jim Wright now be the subject of a preliminary House investigation into some of his activities? A lot of Wright supporters say no, and some experts agree."
Let Freedom Sing? "It will be remembered as an unprecedented international political spectacular," boasted NBC's Peter Kent on June 11. He was speaking of the star-studded "Freedomfest" concert in London, a ten hour 70th birthday tribute to jailed African National Congress (ANC) leader, Nelson Mandela. The TV networks quickly glorified Mandela without exploring the terrorist activities of his communist-controlled ANC.
ABC's Jim Hickey described the concert as "perhaps the most spectacular tribute of its kind to a living political figure." ABC, CBS, CNN and NBC all featured celebrities saluting the "moral and just cause." CBS' Martha Teichner trumpeted: "The who's who of the world's most famous rock stars glorified Nelson Mandela -- as political prisoner and hero of the anti-apartheid struggle."
Of the five stories on the day of the event, none explained that South Africa has offered to release Mandela as soon as he renounces violence. None mentioned that more than half of the ANC leadership belong to the Communist Party. Nor did they document any of the ANC's terrorist activities, including car bombings and "necklacing," a fire torture tactic used by militant blacks on those considered sympathetic to the government. Teichner dismissed such concerns, making passing reference to how the South African government "brands him as a terrorist." Kent gave a British MP a few seconds to denounce the ANC, but a CNN and two ABC stories failed to raise the issue.
