8/09/2003

Norman Solomon of FAIR suggests the type of corrections we should be seeing in the news: For the 958th consecutive week, the Daily Bugle published a Business section each day without ever including a Labor section in the paper. This tacit identification with the interests of capital over the interests of working people is inconsistent with the values of independent journalism. The editors regret this chronic error... The Daily Bugle published a wire-service story yesterday that flatly reported: “The events of 9/11 changed everything in America.” But Sept. 11 did not really change everything. For instance, widespread hunger among low-income people has persisted in this country. To take another example, 9/11 did not change the society’s basic financial structures, which continue to widen already-huge economic gaps between rich and poor. It is inaccurate and irresponsible journalism to report that “9/11 changed everything.” The Daily Bugle regrets that it has gotten caught up in this media myth... A news report in the Daily Bugle on Thursday stated that Secretary of State Colin Powell is “a moderate.” This assessment should have been attributed rather than being presented as an objective fact. The lengthy article did not mention Powell’s record of strong efforts for the contra war in Nicaragua, the invasion of Panama, two massive assaults on Iraq and other wars waged by the Pentagon: a record some would contend hardly merits characterization as “moderate.” ...News articles and editorials about regulatory issues related to the media industry have not included the relevant information that the Silverado Newspaper Group, the chain that owns the Daily Bugle, stands to gain or lose millions of dollars in profits depending on the outcome of deregulation proposals. The editor regrets the lack of appropriate disclosure and disclaimers... The funny thing about media bias is that the bias which identifies itself as such garners the most attention and also presents the least danger. This past year, for example - to switch for a moment to the question of bias in the classroom - my political science professor first semester made a derisive remark at one point about Florida having "cost us the election," blushed, and apologized. My political science professor second semester devoted a significant part of the course to explaining why criticism of Congress as an institution is borne of lack of understanding of Congress, impatience, and lack of commitment to democracy. The pro-Gore partisan bias is much more likely to be flagged, or potentially to be marshalled as a further anecdote of the liberal bias of the academy. But the pro-Congress ideological bias, precisely because it's subtle and it doesn't present itself as one of two or more alternatives, is much more persuasive and problematic. Part of the important work FAIR does is exposing and challenging the unspoken assumptions and fixed paradigms through which the supposedly liberal media filter their narrative.

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