Media Bias Covering Liberation of Iraq (Vanity)

Vanity | 3/18/04 | Gothmog

[Gothmog]

It struck me the other day that the usual left-wing media has been subliminally skewing its coverage of the liberation of Iraq by mislabeling the US “coalition authority” as the US “occupation authority,” thus adopting the terrorists’ language. For example:

“coalition authority” cites

Knight Ridder 3/15/04 article

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/special_packages/iraq/8194910.htm

“…yet the coalition authority can boast of notable successes that US officials argue have laid the groundwork for Iraq's prosperity. ...”

UPI in the Washington Times 3/18/04 article

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040318-072123-7284r.htm

“…Jordan is training members of the new Iraqi army and new police force under an agreement it signed with the coalition authority in Iraq.”

Voice of America 3/18/04 article

http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=16BB1652-9831-4822-940DE194677CA813

“…others wounded in an attack Thursday apparently targeting employees of an Iraqi television station (Diyala Television) funded by the US-led coalition authority ...”

Then there are the usual liberal media suspects:

“occupation authority” cites

Baltimore Sun 3/18/04 article

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.contractors18mar18,0,7525578.story?coll=bal-news-nation

“…on March 9, two American civilians working for the US occupation authority were killed after several gunmen stopped their vehicle at a makeshift checkpoint ...”

Washington Post 3/18/04 article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2866-2004Mar17.html

“... Daniel Senor, a spokesman for the occupation authority, lauded the council's move, saying the 25-member body was "making progress" in addressing the difficult ...”

Washington Post 3/18/04 article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1234-2004Mar17.html

“... on the east bank of the Tigris River, was felt about a mile away in the Green Zone, the heavily fortified headquarters of the US-led occupation authority. ...”

Washington Post 3/16/04 article (does mention a “coalition”, but mis identifies its formal name as the “occupation authority)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A89-2004Mar17.html

“... and an Iraqi translator died in a shooting on a road south of Baghdad on March 9. The Americans were the first civilians from the US occupation authority to be ...”

Los Angeles Times 3/18/04 article

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-contract17mar17,1,2780434.story?coll=la-headlines-world

“... Iraqi army was canceled because of "irregularities" in the bidding process, formally protested the action in a filing with the US-led Iraq occupation authority ...”

New York Times 3/18/04 article

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/18/international/middleeast/18CND-IRAQ.html

“…Zaki Mohammad, 41, an electrical engineer, halted a reporter and asked that a message be passed to L. Paul Bremer III, chief of the American occupation authority.”

New York Times 3/18/04 article (different story, same quote)

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/18/international/middleeast/18IRAQ.html

“…Zaki Mohammad, 41, an electrical engineer, halted a reporter and asked that a message be passed to L. Paul Bremer III, chief of the American occupation authority.”

New York Times 3/13/04 article

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/13/international/middleeast/13IRAQ.html

“American officials said today that four men arrested in connection with the killing of two American civilians working for the American occupation authority…”

AP article in Salt Lake Tribune 3/18/04

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Mar/03172004/nation_w/148691.asp

“... and an Iraqi translator died in a shooting on a road south of Baghdad on March 9. The Americans were the first civilians from the US occupation authority to be ...”

Knight Ridder 3/18/04 article

http://www.freep.com/news/nw/iraq18_20040318.htm

“... walls that surround the more prominent Baghdad hotels housing large numbers of Western journalists and civilian contractors for the US-led occupation authority ...”

Knight Ridder 3/18/04 article with “occupation” and “coalition”

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/8214117.htm

“…network based in northern Iraq, and Abu Musab al Zarqawi, a Jordanian extremist with reported ties to al Qaeda who is wanted by the US-led occupation authority ...”

Boston Globe 3/18/04 article tries to have it both ways

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/078/nation/Car_bomb_kills_27_in_Baghdad+.shtml

“…including shootings over the previous week that killed two civilian officials of the US occupation authority…”

“An official on the scene with the Coalition Provisional Authority, the US-led occupation administration,…”

Two notes: First, the search for “coalition authority” on the NYT web site resulted in NO articles containing that phrase in the past 30 days, while the “occupation authority” search resulted in a number of article.

Second, it should be mentioned that the liberal media sometimes does mention the “coalition forces,” but the real slant seems to be toward official labeling the US coalition authority as an “occupation.”

[Gothmog]

Maybe I'm just being thin-skinned and wasting band-width. It is not very shocking that the media (intentionally or subconsciously) is biased. But, this did strike me as similar to Reuters refusing to call al qaeda terrorists, etc.

Since I find that annoying I figured I'd share my annoyance with y'all.

[FReepaholic]

>>...Maybe I'm just being thin-skinned and wasting band-width...<<

You are being neither. We need diligent citizens like you to catch these things.

The socialists in the media know very well the power of words. The average American won't realize it's happening.

[Gothmog]

Well, I guess we are above average then, ha ha ha.

[Oblongata]

Well technically and truthfully, until July 1st, we are occupying Iraq. Therefor the coalition authority is also an occupation authority. Just because the Government doesn't use the term doesn't mean it's not true.

[Oblongata]

Well technically and truthfully, until July 1st, we are occupying Iraq. Therefor the coalition authority is also an occupation authority. Just because the Government doesn't use the term doesn't mean it's not true.

[Oblongata]

Well technically and truthfully, until July 1st, we are occupying Iraq. Therefor the coalition authority is also an occupation authority. Just because the Government doesn't use the term doesn't mean it's not true.

[Gothmog]

So I guess it would be OK for the Washington Times to rename "The John Kerry campaign for President" the "Kerry campaign to enrich himself and his communist friends." Because that's what he's really doing, and just because he labels it differently doesn't mean the Times can't name it whatever they want.

I understand your point, different sources report it at different times as "occupation forces" and "coalition forces" or the "occuaption" of Iraq, and I don't really have a problem with that. But the "coalition authority" is a specific name and I think by changing it they are showing their bias.

[tx_eggman]

You got the hiccups son?