Among the millions of words that have appeared in the U.S. press since late April about abuse and torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, one has been notably missing: Racism. Overall, when it comes to racial aspects, the news coverage is quite PC — as in Pentagon Correct. The outlook is "apple pie" egalitarian, with the media picture including high-profile officers who are African-American and Latino. Meanwhile, inside the policy arena, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice are frequently in front of cameras to personify Uncle Sam in blackface. The U.S. government doesn’t drop bombs on people because of [...]
Search Results for: Martin A. Lee
Dec
01
2002
Connie Chung: Skeptical of Skepticism
On her October 7 broadcast, CNN's Connie Chung took a U.S. congressmember to task for doubting George W. Bush. After Rep. Mike Thompson (D.-Calif.) told Chung that there seemed to be no evidence that Iraq posed an immediate danger to the United States or its allies, the anchor responded, "Well, let's listen to something that President Bush said tonight, and you tell me if this doesn't provide you with the evidence that you want." She then aired a clip from a speech that Bush made in Cincinnati, in which he stated that "Some Al-Qaeda leaders who fled Afghanistan went to [...]
Jul
25
2002
Will This Be an 'Official Scandal'--or Something More?
With huge financial scandals causing turmoil in the United States, this year has seen some vigorous reporting about high-level misdeeds and corporate manipulation. But many news stories just take the lead from top officials. In the months ahead, we'll find out how deep American media outlets are willing to go. Big scandals always generate plenty of headlines and lots of excitement. Important information can emerge. But frequently, key facts remain buried and crucial questions go unasked. If it's true that reporters produce a first draft of history, they often serve as conformist "jiffy historians" who do little more than recycle [...]
Jan
24
2002
Ashcroft's Media Scam: A Confederacy Of Amnesia
Even by Washington's standards, the ability of John Ashcroft to reinvent himself has been a wonder to behold. Just a year ago, squeaking through Senate confirmation as attorney general, Ashcroft found himself shadowed by his own praise for leaders of the Confederacy. Now he's able to tout himself as a disciple of Martin Luther King Jr. It's quite a scam, and Ashcroft couldn't have pulled it off without major help from news media. Mainstream journalists have declined to subject the attorney general to the most elementary comparisons between present and past stances on race-related issues. With scant challenge from journalists, [...]
Sep
01
2001
When a Media Mogul Runs the State
U.S. press unconcerned about fascist ties of Italy's Berlusconi
It's no great wonder that much of the Italian media did not report critically on the electoral campaign of multi-billionaire Silvio Berlusconi. After all, he owns Italy's three main private TV networks and other major media outlets. But what excuse does the U.S. press have for its flaccid coverage of Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, who is now prime minister of that country's 59th government since World War II? U.S. journalists repeatedly refer to the Italian TV tycoon as a "self-made" success story. George Will called the Italian TV tycoon a "gaudy self-creation" (Newsweek, 5/21/01) and a Scripps Howard editorial (5/15/01) [...]
Sep
01
2001
Their Man in Washington
Big media have an ally in new FCC chair Michael Powell
When a regulator's appointment is hosannaed by the corporations he is supposed to be regulating, the public should be concerned. When the person charged with defending the public interest in telecommunications acknowledges that he has "no idea" (Columbia Journalism Review, 7-8/01) what the public interest is, telegraphs his willingness to eliminate virtually every remaining check on media concentration, and "jokes" that the digital divide is the misguided complaint of whining have-nots, we ought to be worried indeed. Such a man is Michael Powell, since January the chair of the Federal Communications Commission, the federal agency that regulates telecommunication. Powell's salient [...]
Jan
01
2001
Uprising Without Explanation
"The Palestinians began the latest protests with old-style demonstrations. Then they started shooting at Israeli towns. Now they are attacking settlements. It's not at all clear what the next step will be, but every step seems to get bloodier." -- "Into the War Zone," Time (12/4/00) In war--especially the kind of war that has now broken out between Israel and the Palestinians--each side has its reasons. Not all reasons are equally valid, but in journalism both sides must be told, context and balance provided, and ultimately the audience should decide. When Israel is asked to explain the 300 Palestinians (compared [...]
Sep
01
2000
The Real Ali Agca Connection
Media miss U.S. ties to Turkish terrorists
When would-be papal assassin Mehmet Ali Agca was pardoned by the Italian government and sent back to his native Turkey in June, a New York Times editorial (6/16/00) typified the prevailing U.S. media spin. The lead of the editorial described the commutation of Agca's life sentence for the May 1981 papal shooting as "a reminder that cold-war mysteries may still lie buried in the archives of the former Soviet Union and the East bloc." Over the years, the Times and other U.S. news outlets vigorously promoted the theory that the Soviet KGB, acting through its Bulgarian secret service proxy, was [...]
