MediaWatch: March 1988
Table of Contents:
NewsBites
Bye-Bye Babbitt. The night of the Iowa caucuses CBS News political correspondent Bruce Morton told viewers: "There's always one candidate, I guess, whom reporters like. Reporters liked Morris Udall the year he ran for President." This year, he concluded, "reporters like Bruce Babbitt a lot."
A few weeks later, when Babbitt and conservative Republican Pete du Pont dropped out of the race, ABC's World News Tonight helped prove Morton's point. On February 18 anchor Peter Jennings spent 24 seconds telling about du Pont's decision before he introduced a nearly four minute long story by Richard Threlkeld on the Babbitt campaign's last days.
Jennings paid homage to the former Arizona Governor for having "the courage to say that as President he would probably have to raise taxes," and lamented the fact Babbitt "never recovered from his courage."
Jennings' Hostage Break. The CBS Evening News, CNN PrimeNews and NBC Nightly News all broadcast video of U.S. Marine Lt. Colonel William Higgins stating the demands of his terrorist kidnappers. But, even though ABC's World News This Morning and Good Morning America had already shown the tape earlier on February 22, World News Tonight anchor Peter Jennings refused to play along, explaining, "the hostage holders clearly intend to use the media to put pressure on others."
Could this positive development become a new policy? Unfortunately not. Asked by MediaWatch, ABC News press representative Laura Wessner responded: "No, we will still decide on a case by case basis."
Surprise, Surprise. Is there a liberal mindset among the Eastern media elite? The results of a recent survey help provide the answer. The Washington Journalism Review (WJR) "Best in the Business" reader poll has received plenty of publicity, especially since ABC News is airing a promotion touting Sam Donaldson, Peter Jennings and Nightline as winners.
But the "least favorite" winners have received little attention. In the print media category, George Will won, followed by Robert Novak and William F. Buckley. All conservatives. But that's not much of a surprise given WJR's readers are mainly Washington and New York based reporters, producers and media executives. Who do they consider the "best" newspaper reporter? Bob Woodward of The Washington Post.
Freedom in the Donaldson Vein. Sam Donaldson has discovered a "freedom fighter" group he can tolerate, in fact one that he even supports. This may come as a surprise to those used to hearing Donaldson's frequent criticism of the Contras. For instance, on the February 7 This Week with David Brinkley he saw nothing wrong with abandoning the Nicaraguan Freedom Fighters, declaring: "I think the House was right to turn down aid to the Contras."
So what is the group he wants to assist? A hint: the group battles a government in Africa. No, it's not the democratic resistance movements in Angola or Mozambique, but the communist-backed, terrorist African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. Donaldson asked Reagan at his February 24 news conference: "Have you considered sending aid to the freedom fighters, the ANC, or any other organization against this oppression, just as you send aid to other freedom fighters around the world?"
Misleading Economic Indicators. "Alarm bells were going off again today about an economic recession in this country," NBC anchor Tom Brokaw announced on February 2. The source of Brokaw's concern? The Index of Leading Economic Indicators fell 0.2 percent in December, the third monthly drop and a sign of an impending recession according to some economists. A month later, on March 1, the Commerce Department revised the figure to reflect an actual jump of 0.3 percent for December. But Brokaw ignored the correction which shot down his earlier assertion.
Brokaw's not the only one emphasizing negative economic news. On February 17 government agencies reported housing starts fell while industrial productivity rose. ABC's Peter Jennings only mentioned the housing decline. The March 2 CBS Evening News led with the news new home sales were down. A dire story by reporter Ray Brady warned viewers the dip means "trouble for the entire economy." Of the four networks, only CNN's Bernard Shaw gave viewers a more complete explanation, reporting: "economists are saying housing downturns are not uncommon at this time of year and they are predicting much better numbers by Spring."
NBC's Slight to Human Rights. On February 10 the State Department released its 1987 "Country Reports on Human Rights." A department official described North Korea and Cuba as the "most repressive states in the world, closely resembling George Orwell's nightmare state as depicted in his novel, '1984.'" That night, the CBS Evening News and CNN PrimeNews mentioned these conclusions. CNN's Mary Alice Williams also referred to Nicaragua's "significant human rights abuses" and the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan. NBC Nightly News ignored the authoritative study. But a week later NBC did find time to air a lengthy report on abuses by a U.S. ally described by another human rights study. On February 19 NBC's Ed Rabel charged that "the U.S. government knows Honduras is using death squads to kill civilians suspected of being leftists."
Headline Writing for Human Rights. The day after the release of the State Department's report, The Washington Times gave the story a straight forward headline based on what the report found: "North Korea, Cuba Worst Abusers of Human Rights." The Washington Post chose to overlook the worst oppressors and, instead, put a positive spin on the conditions in another communist nation. The headline read: "Soviet Rights Improved By 'Glasnost,' U.S. Says; Repression Eased Under Gorbachev Policy."
Grenading Urgent Fury. Once again, the PBS public affairs series Frontline has lashed out against Reagan's foreign policy goals. Last year Frontline focused on what it termed "America's war" on Nicaragua. The show's main question: "How the U.S. claimed the right to intervene against the sovereign government it didn't like?" This year, Frontline looked at "Operation Fury," the 1983 U.S. military plan to rescue American students in Grenada. To present the case, PBS turned to crusading liberal reporter Seymour Hersh. Hersh spent much of the time explaining how military incompetence endangered the very people the U.S. went to save, but his main point was political, characterizing the invasion as irrationally driven by Reagan's conservative ideology.
Hersh argued that the students were not "really in imminent danger," despite the communist regime's shoot to kill curfew and frequent threats to hold Americans hostage. Carter's ambassador to Grenada, Sally Shelton-Colby, served as Hersh's main source. She claimed the government had "a great, deep, and sincere interest in making things better for Grenadans." Hersh misleadingly describes the situation as "a war of words between Ronald Reagan and the revolutionary government of Grenada." The program failed to document key points. First, that neighboring Caribbean nations felt threatened by Grenada and requested assistance. Second, documents seized after the liberation proved that just 30 days after the communist takeover in 1979, massive Soviet armaments began arriving from Cuba. Third, while both Hersh and Shelton-Colby claimed the Point Salines airfield was strictly for tourism, the same documents prove that the strategically-located island would someday be used as a Soviet and Cuban military installation.
A Provocative Passage? The Soviet Union claims its territory extends 12 miles out to sea, but the U.S. recognizes the three mile limit established by international law. When two U.S. Navy ships sailed closer than 12 miles to the Soviet's Black Sea coast on February 12, Soviet ships forced the U.S. vessels to turn away by bumping into them. But at least one TV network reporter saw the U.S. as the antagonist. NBC's Fred Francis charged the U.S. was deliberately "taunting the Soviet bear" and countered the Navy's explanation they were simply exercising the right of "innocent passage" by stating: "the mission was hardly innocent" since the ship's "were collecting intelligence along the Soviet shore." CNN's Carl Rochelle gave viewers a more balanced picture, pointing out that intelligence gathering is "something the Soviets regularly do to the United States, which has only a three mile limit."
A bit later in his Nightly News story Francis asserted that "many analysts say the U.S. policy is provocative" and warned: "instead of bumping the American warships, next time the Soviets may fire missiles." However, when the Soviets test-fired ballistic missiles near Hawaii last October, leading the U.S. to issue a strong protest, NBC didn't consider the act "provocative" enough to mention on the Nightly News.
Faw and Order. Worried about the treatment of violent criminals, CBS sent reporter Bob Faw to study the situation inside the federal maximum security prison in Marion, Illinois. Without mentioning the crimes committed by those incarcerated, Faw's February 1 Evening News story focused on the prison's "barbaric design," including a 23-hour a day lockdown policy, and strict rules for behavior that prisoners call unfair. "Everything that Marion controls now will explode later," Faw concluded after interviewing several inmates who complained of alienation and critics who warned the "slow torture" is "creating violent people."
In building sympathy for the men, Faw neglected to mention that most are repeat offenders who have disrupted other prisons. Indeed, 38 percent have killed or tried to kill. In a letter of protest to CBS News obtained by MediaWatch, Federal Bureau of Prisons Director J. Michael Quinlan explained that of the inmates Faw interviewed one had planned a sniper-assisted escape and another had helped kill a correctional officer. Quinlan called the violence-creating assertion "patently false" since the "inmates are far more dangerous," before entering Marion "than the Alcatraz population ever was."
MediaWatch Launches Radio Report and Second Newsletter. In late December MediaWatch began a weekly radio commentary narrated by Publisher L. Brent Bozell III. Distributed by Radio America, a Washington based radio syndicate service, early returns show the MediaWatch Radio Report is carried by over 100 stations nationwide.
The Media Research Center started publishing Notable Quotables in mid-February. A bi-weekly report from MediaWatch, the two page newsletter lists the latest examples of media bias in an easy to scan, brief paragraph format. Each issue offers readers quotes from TV network reporters and demonstrates the political slant of newspapers by comparing headlines on current issues. For a free copy, write to the address at the bottom of page 8.
Conservatives Prefer Shaw. Attendees of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) consider CNN PrimeNews anchor Bernard Shaw to be the "Most Objective Anchorman." In the First Annual CPAC Media Poll conducted by MediaWatch at the mid-February convention in Washington, D.C., Shaw edged out ABC's Peter Jennings for the honor. Poll respondents overwhelmingly picked Dan Rather as the "Most Biased TV Anchorman" and 76 percent decided the CBS Evening News is the "Most Biased Network News Show." With 43 percent, the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour barely beat out PrimeNews which 42 percent favored as the "Most Balanced Network News Show."
About two-thirds predictably chose Sam Donaldson as the "Reporter Most Hostile to Conservatives." His closest competitor: Lesley Stahl of CBS with 11 percent. The poll determined conservative activists believe ABC's Brit Hume is the "Most Fair and Balanced Political Reporter." Hume got more than twice as many votes as the second place finisher, CNN's Frederick Allen. Respondents also identified CNN's Crossfire as the "Most Informative TV Talk Show."
