Framing the debate


The news isn't always what it seems
I don't agree with the way that President Bush has waged the Iraq War, especially lately.

But it is silly not to acknowledge the bias in presenting the news.

Convincingly and without resorting to partisan politics, Kuypers strongly illustrates in eight chapters “how the press failed America in its coverage on the War on Terror.” In each comparison, Kuypers “detected massive bias on the part of the press.” In fact, Kuypers calls the mainstream news media an “anti-democratic institution” in the conclusion.

“What has essentially happened since 9/11 has been that Bush has repeated the same themes, and framed those themes the same whenever discussing the War on Terror,” said Kuypers, who specializes in political communication and rhetoric. “Immediately following 9/11, the mainstream news media (represented by CBS, ABC, NBC, USA Today, New York Times, and Washington Post) did echo Bush, but within eight weeks it began to intentionally ignore certain information the president was sharing, and instead reframed the president's themes or intentionally introduced new material to shift the focus.”

This goes beyond reporting alternate points of view. “In short,” Kupyers explained, “if someone were relying only on the mainstream media for information, they would have no idea what the president actually said. It was as if the press were reporting on a different speech.”

I'm not saying that the news shouldn't present alternate views. They should. I am saying that we need accurate reporting. If the mainstream news presents it's own story as unbiased while excluding the other sides, that is just as much propaganda as any government press release.

Hat tip Brain Terminal.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Tue - December 5, 2006 at 11:37 AM  Tag


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