To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.
Posted on 06/25/2008 8:45:46 AM PDT by jazusamo
The mainstream media continues to smear the American military. It ignores the presumption of innocence and need to apologize for false accusations.
Here are five examples of the mainstream media coverage that conclusively proves how these major outlets have slipped into the journalistic garbage can, with dishonest, fraudulent, and biased reporting. The first four have been well documented in previous columns, and now I add a number "five":
No. 1: The mainstream media disrespects our servicemen by either ignoring altogether or severely downplaying those who win the nation's highest award for heroism, the Medal of Honor. They put any military misstep on the front-page, even if based on false accusations. But the mainstream media has no room for our heroes. (E.g., see my "Mainstream Media Dishonors Medal of Honor Winners" at www.thebulletin.us.)
No. 2: The mainstream media the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, put national security secrets on the front page. (See "More On How The Mainstream Media Aids Terrorism.")
No. 3: The mainstream media kept reporting the story of the al-Durah incident, in which a Palestinian boy was allegedly shot by the Israelis. It turns out a French court decided this was a hoax, and other evidence accumulated over the years that the story was staged for the benefit of the media. Although this story went worldwide and was covered on the front-page of newspapers and at the top of television newscasts, it was virtually ignored when it was determined to be a hoax. The media knew that this al-Durah incident had been used to whip up violence against Israelis and Jews everywhere, but the mainstream media took almost no steps to publicize the determination that the whole al-Dura incident was a hoax. Among the papers that failed to cover the determination of the French court was the Philadelphia Inquirer, long known for its anti-Israel, anti-Semitic coverage under the Knight-Ridder ownership and now under new ownership. Even after being asked to cover the story, The Inquirer did not, knowing it will continue to be used to foment violence and bloodshed. So the mainstream media masters are not just engaging in yellow journalism; they literally have blood on their hands. (See "Major Media Outlets Ignore Front-Page Hoax.")
No. 4: The mainstream media is virtually serving as a cheering section and campaign manager for Sen. Barack Obama's run for the presidency and is not vetting him. The mainstream media has already succeeded in getting him nominated and may well elect him without telling the American people about what he really stands for, who are his questionable associates, and the full implications for his wacky and often loony positions. (See my more than 25 columns on Mr. Obama including "Media Ignore Fraud Bigger than Obama.")
No. 5: Today, I add a fifth example: the coverage of the so-called Haditha massacre in which U.S. Marines were accused of killing innocent Iraqi civilians in cold blood on Nov. 19, 2005. When the accusations were made, the presumption of innocence was disregarded. A whole series of major national media outlets treated the Marines as convicted murderers. The impetus for this lynching came from Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., who actually said of the Marines: "Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them, and they killed innocent civilians in cold blood." He said that before there was even an investigation, and has not apologized for his false accusations since.
What happened when the Marines started getting acquitted or having the charges against them dismissed? The New York Times sets the standard for the mainstream media. It ran 30 stories of accusations including eight on the front-page. Michelle Malkin, the columnist, reported that in a lead editorial it blamed Pentagon brass and President Bush for the "nightmare" killings in Haditha, and described those killings as the "defining atrocity" of the Iraq war. When the acquittals and dismissals started to roll in, The Times - as you would expect - virtually ignored the story. The second-tier and second-rate national media outlets followed the disgraceful and disgusting lead of The New York Times. That would include The Philadelphia Inquirer.
I get about 10 newspapers every day, and on June 12, 2008 when the latest dismissal of charges against one Marine should have been reported, I hardly knew another step had been taken in proving that Haditha was largely a false accusation by Murtha and the mainstream media.
I'm glad to report that one newspaper that I read gave the dismissal the space and prominence it deserved - especially in view of years of false accusations carried and emphasized by the mainstream media. That one newspaper was The Bulletin, which carried a large front-page headline: "Case Dismissed: Military Judge Drops Charges Against Marine in Haditha Trial" (June 12, 2008).
That front-page story reported that the case against Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest ranking of the eight Marines facing charges in the Haditha incident, had been dismissed because of improper command influence. The Bulletin also ran a picture of Lt. Col. Chessani and his wife with the front-page story, and in the continuation of the story included another picture with the officer, his wife and his defense team.
So what's the score to date on the Haditha prosecutions? Investor's Business Daily put it best in their headline, "U.S. Marines 7, Smear Artists of Haditha 0." So far the charges were dismissed against Lt. Col. Chessani, one Marine is still to be tried, but the other six were either acquitted or had the charges against them dismissed.
Michelle Malkin cataloged how some of the mainstream media covered the story, and that catalog is one of the most shocking indictments of its dishonest, biased, and fraudulent journalism ever assembled. Here are some of the examples:
* MSNBC's Keith Olberman, whose reporting standards are even lower than most of the mainstream media, called Haditha "willful targeted brutality."
* The Nation magazine quickly concluded, "Enough details have emerged ... to conclude that ... members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment perpetuated a massacre." Not content with this libel of the Marines, The Nation also blamed the president and "culture of impunity" that permeates the military.
* The mainstream media often likened Haditha to the infamous My Lai Massacre of the Vietnam War. The Guardian (London) called it "My Lai on the Euphrates," The Daily Telegraph (London) put it this way: "Massacre in Iraq Just like My Lai," and Maureen Dowd of The New York Times saw it as a "My Lai Flashback." The Associated Press dug out his My Lai pictures to run with the Haditha story.
* Ms. Malkin reports that Murtha cuts and runs when now asked about his false accusation. She added, "Relatives of the Haditha Marines have called for Congress to censure Murtha ... He and the Haditha smear merchants have skated while the men and their families suffered global whippings on the airwaves and eternal demonization in print. Whose 'culture of impunity?'"
What can you do about newspapers and other media outlets that smear and dishonor our military? First, you can boycott them, and not give them your subscription or advertising dollars. That would include The New York Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer for starters and certainly MSNBC. You can write your Congressmen and ask that they censure Mr. Murtha. You can also start understanding that if you rely on the mainstream media for your news, you are in trouble, and if enough people do that, so is the country.
Herb Denenberg is a former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commissioner, and professor at the Wharton School. He is a longtime Philadelphia journalist and consumer advocate. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of the Sciences. His column appears daily in The Bulletin. You can reach him at advocate@thebulletin.us.
To be added to the Murtha Watch ping list please notify myself or RedRover.
Dang it. I just wish journalists would all stick together in one big ol’ slime bucket. It’s too hard to work up a proper rant against em when the good ones step up and speak out like this.
Well said, Mr. Denenberg. Now, if we could just talk folk like you into being journalism teachers...
The Bulletin and Herb Denenberg Rock!
Peg Luksik has a column yesterday as well!
I haven’t seen any AP articles yet either.
Yippee, I can trash the Inqy!
Sorry Hubby, we’ll find the Funnies elsewhere.
Herb Denenberg needs to stop “getting” 10 papers a day. He should go read them at the public library, or online, or whatever. The fact that he spends at least 10 dollars a day on newspapers is just helping the newspapers.
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