SPECIAL REPORT: FIVE YEARS OF MEDIA ATTACKS ON THE WAR ON TERROR

Alexandria, VAThe Media Research Center today released a study documenting how ABC, CBS, and NBC have presumed the worst about government anti-terror efforts since Sept.11, 2001 and allowed leftist politics to skew their coverage of NSA surveillance, the Patriot Act, and Guantanamo inmates. The coverage overall makes government anti-terror tactics look as frightening as terrorism itself.

MRC analysts examined all 496 evening news stories on ABC, CBS and NBC about these three major elements of the post-9/11 war on terrorism from September 11, 2001 through August 31, 2006 for the Special Report, The Media vs. The War on Terror [2].

Major findings include:

• 62% of Patriot Act stories highlighted fears that the law infringed on Americans civil liberties.

• 100% of the 19 soundbites on the Patriot Act from ordinary citizens condemned the law, despite polls showing most Americans believe it has prevented new acts of terrorism.

• Network reporters largely portrayed Guantanamo inmates as victims, airing a total of 46 soundbites from prisoners or advocates who professed their innocence. Not one report included a comment from 9/11 victims or their families.

• Most network stories (59%) cast the NSA terrorist surveillance program as either legally dubious or outright illegal.

• ABC, CBS and NBC were five times more likely to showcase experts who criticized the NSAs surveillance program. The CBS Evening News has so far refused to show any pro-NSA experts.

Instead of reporting what Americans are insisting that our government do everything in its power to prevent another terrorist attack network reporters continually choose to peddle the Lefts accusations that the Bush administration is as dangerous as the terrorists themselves, said L. Brent Bozell, President of the Media Research Center.

Read the full Special Report at www.MRC.org [2]