America’s Media Watchdog The Media Research Center has just released this new report entitled The Media vs The War On Terror
In the five years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans, ABC, CBS and NBC have tilted their coverage of anti-terrorism efforts in favor of critics like the American Civil Liberties Union who claim the U.S. government has been too heavy-handed. In their coverage of the USA Patriot Act, the Guantanamo Bay prison for captured terrorists, or the NSA terrorist surveillance program, most broadcast news stories have portrayed our government’s policies as dangerous, abusive or illegal.
Here is how the study was conducted:
MRC analysts analyzed 496 stories that aired on ABCâ??s World News Tonight, the CBS Evening News, and NBC Nightly News between September 11, 2001 and August 31, 2006. They examined all evening news stories about three major elements of the post-9/11 war on terrorism: the treatment of captured terrorists at Guantanamo Bay (277 stories); the National Security Agencyâ??s program to eavesdrop on suspected terrorists calling to or from the U.S. (128 stories); and the USA Patriot Act (91 stories). Major findings:
Annotated major finding included:
Most TV news stories about the Patriot Act (62%) highlighted complaints or fears that the law infringed on the civil liberties of innocent Americans.
ABC, CBS and NBC heavily favored critics of the Patriot Act.
Most of the network coverage of Guantanamo Bay focused on charges that the captured al-Qaeda terrorists were due additional rights or privileges (100 stories) or allegations that detainees were being mistreated or abused (105 stories).
Network reporters largely portrayed the Guantanamo inmates as victims, with about one in seven stories including the word “torture.”
Most network stories (59%) cast the NSAâ??s post 9/11 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 NSAâ??s surveillance program…The CBS Evening News has so far refused to show any pro-NSA experts.
Read entire report here
This type of biased agenda driven journalism in my humble opinion is treacherous, anti-American, and outright treasonous and these organizations should be ashamed of themselves.