Aug 25, 2009
With new polls showing the
American public becoming increasingly critical of the U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan, the Sunday morning network talkshows turned primarily to
Pentagon officials and war boosters to discuss the issue, continuing
the media marginalization of critics of the escalation of the war (Extra!, 4/09).
The most recent ABC/Washington Post poll (8/13-17/09)
found that 51 percent of respondents believe the war is not worth
fighting--the first time that position has received majority support.
Just 24 percent supported sending more troops to Afghanistan, while 45
percent think the level of troops should be decreased.
As the New York Times reported (8/24/09):
"The White House has been concerned about declining support for the war
among the American public. After recent polls illustrating the decline,
[Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman] Admiral [Mike] Mullen and Karl W.
Eikenberry, a retired general who is the ambassador to Afghanistan,
went on Sunday talkshows to discuss the direction of the mission."
Indeed, this pair of officials appeared the same morning (8/23/09) on
both NBC's Meet the Press and CNN's State of the Union.
State of the Union host John King also presented
"three U.S. senators from across the ideological spectrum [to] debate
whether to send more troops to Afghanistan." The views expressed by
Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, independent Joe Lieberman and Democrat
Benjamin Cardin, though, could hardly be considered a debate: Lugar
said that "everyone waits for General McChrystal to give, really, the
outline of where we're headed, how many troops or whatever else is
going to be required" while Cardin declared that "we need to make sure
that Afghanistan and, quite frankly, the border with Pakistan is not a
safe haven for terrorists," and "we now need to know what do we need to
do as far as resources to accomplish that mission."
Lieberman, declaring that "we can't let the Taliban come back,"
suggested that the U.S. "give our troops and our civilians there...the
support that they need as quickly as we can get it to them." ("Don't
dribble it out, don't go for incrementalism," Lieberman warned.) Lugar
concluded the segment by predicting that the U.S. occupation of
Afghanistan would last "many, many years beyond" President Barack
Obama's current term.
On ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain gave his appraisal of Obama's conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (As the ABC web headline
put it, "McCain: Obama Doing What I Would Do on Battlefields.") Host
George Stephanopoulos asked McCain about the public's attitude towards
the war: "The majority now say that it's not worth fighting. Two to
one, they don't want more troops. The clock is ticking both with the
public and Congress. You say 12 to 18 months. What do we need to see in
12 to 18 months to make sure the public and the Congress stay behind
this war?" Note that the issue for the host is shaping public opinion
to conform to the policy, rather than asking whether the policy should
change in response to public opinion.
On the show's roundtable, conservative columnist George Will was the
most forceful critic of the war (saying, "I think the American people
are right about this"), while liberals Paul Krugman and Robert Reich
downplayed both the political significance of the war and the
importance of recent polls; Krugman said that he would like to ask
Americans who are surveyed to find Afghanistan on a map.
CBS's Face the Nation did not feature a discussion of Afghanistan this week. Last week (8/16/09),
the program featured former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel and former
Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, neither of whom seemed to have a strong
opinion about the war.
It makes sense that government officials would try to reverse the trend
of declining public support for the war by going on TV. But why are the
networks allowing themselves to be used this way? Why is the corporate
media response to rising dissatisfaction with the Afghanistan War not
an effort to include that point of view in the discussion, but to bring
on more officials to explain to the public why their opinions are wrong?
ACTION:
Encourage the Sunday morning shows to acknowledge the public's views on
Afghanistan by including peace advocates and other critics of the
escalation of the war as guests on their programs.
CONTACT:
NBC's Meet the Press
Email: meetthepressquestions@nbcuni.com
Webform: https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ns/meet_the_press/
ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous
Email: thisweek@abc.com
CNN's State of the Union
Email: StateoftheUnion@CNN.com
CBS's Face the Nation
Email: ftn@cbsnews.com
Please post copies of your letters in the comments section on the FAIR Blog.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. Join with us today! |
© 2023 Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR)
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (Fair)
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986.
With new polls showing the
American public becoming increasingly critical of the U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan, the Sunday morning network talkshows turned primarily to
Pentagon officials and war boosters to discuss the issue, continuing
the media marginalization of critics of the escalation of the war (Extra!, 4/09).
The most recent ABC/Washington Post poll (8/13-17/09)
found that 51 percent of respondents believe the war is not worth
fighting--the first time that position has received majority support.
Just 24 percent supported sending more troops to Afghanistan, while 45
percent think the level of troops should be decreased.
As the New York Times reported (8/24/09):
"The White House has been concerned about declining support for the war
among the American public. After recent polls illustrating the decline,
[Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman] Admiral [Mike] Mullen and Karl W.
Eikenberry, a retired general who is the ambassador to Afghanistan,
went on Sunday talkshows to discuss the direction of the mission."
Indeed, this pair of officials appeared the same morning (8/23/09) on
both NBC's Meet the Press and CNN's State of the Union.
State of the Union host John King also presented
"three U.S. senators from across the ideological spectrum [to] debate
whether to send more troops to Afghanistan." The views expressed by
Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, independent Joe Lieberman and Democrat
Benjamin Cardin, though, could hardly be considered a debate: Lugar
said that "everyone waits for General McChrystal to give, really, the
outline of where we're headed, how many troops or whatever else is
going to be required" while Cardin declared that "we need to make sure
that Afghanistan and, quite frankly, the border with Pakistan is not a
safe haven for terrorists," and "we now need to know what do we need to
do as far as resources to accomplish that mission."
Lieberman, declaring that "we can't let the Taliban come back,"
suggested that the U.S. "give our troops and our civilians there...the
support that they need as quickly as we can get it to them." ("Don't
dribble it out, don't go for incrementalism," Lieberman warned.) Lugar
concluded the segment by predicting that the U.S. occupation of
Afghanistan would last "many, many years beyond" President Barack
Obama's current term.
On ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain gave his appraisal of Obama's conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (As the ABC web headline
put it, "McCain: Obama Doing What I Would Do on Battlefields.") Host
George Stephanopoulos asked McCain about the public's attitude towards
the war: "The majority now say that it's not worth fighting. Two to
one, they don't want more troops. The clock is ticking both with the
public and Congress. You say 12 to 18 months. What do we need to see in
12 to 18 months to make sure the public and the Congress stay behind
this war?" Note that the issue for the host is shaping public opinion
to conform to the policy, rather than asking whether the policy should
change in response to public opinion.
On the show's roundtable, conservative columnist George Will was the
most forceful critic of the war (saying, "I think the American people
are right about this"), while liberals Paul Krugman and Robert Reich
downplayed both the political significance of the war and the
importance of recent polls; Krugman said that he would like to ask
Americans who are surveyed to find Afghanistan on a map.
CBS's Face the Nation did not feature a discussion of Afghanistan this week. Last week (8/16/09),
the program featured former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel and former
Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, neither of whom seemed to have a strong
opinion about the war.
It makes sense that government officials would try to reverse the trend
of declining public support for the war by going on TV. But why are the
networks allowing themselves to be used this way? Why is the corporate
media response to rising dissatisfaction with the Afghanistan War not
an effort to include that point of view in the discussion, but to bring
on more officials to explain to the public why their opinions are wrong?
ACTION:
Encourage the Sunday morning shows to acknowledge the public's views on
Afghanistan by including peace advocates and other critics of the
escalation of the war as guests on their programs.
CONTACT:
NBC's Meet the Press
Email: meetthepressquestions@nbcuni.com
Webform: https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ns/meet_the_press/
ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous
Email: thisweek@abc.com
CNN's State of the Union
Email: StateoftheUnion@CNN.com
CBS's Face the Nation
Email: ftn@cbsnews.com
Please post copies of your letters in the comments section on the FAIR Blog.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (Fair)
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986.
With new polls showing the
American public becoming increasingly critical of the U.S.-led war in
Afghanistan, the Sunday morning network talkshows turned primarily to
Pentagon officials and war boosters to discuss the issue, continuing
the media marginalization of critics of the escalation of the war (Extra!, 4/09).
The most recent ABC/Washington Post poll (8/13-17/09)
found that 51 percent of respondents believe the war is not worth
fighting--the first time that position has received majority support.
Just 24 percent supported sending more troops to Afghanistan, while 45
percent think the level of troops should be decreased.
As the New York Times reported (8/24/09):
"The White House has been concerned about declining support for the war
among the American public. After recent polls illustrating the decline,
[Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman] Admiral [Mike] Mullen and Karl W.
Eikenberry, a retired general who is the ambassador to Afghanistan,
went on Sunday talkshows to discuss the direction of the mission."
Indeed, this pair of officials appeared the same morning (8/23/09) on
both NBC's Meet the Press and CNN's State of the Union.
State of the Union host John King also presented
"three U.S. senators from across the ideological spectrum [to] debate
whether to send more troops to Afghanistan." The views expressed by
Republican Sen. Richard Lugar, independent Joe Lieberman and Democrat
Benjamin Cardin, though, could hardly be considered a debate: Lugar
said that "everyone waits for General McChrystal to give, really, the
outline of where we're headed, how many troops or whatever else is
going to be required" while Cardin declared that "we need to make sure
that Afghanistan and, quite frankly, the border with Pakistan is not a
safe haven for terrorists," and "we now need to know what do we need to
do as far as resources to accomplish that mission."
Lieberman, declaring that "we can't let the Taliban come back,"
suggested that the U.S. "give our troops and our civilians there...the
support that they need as quickly as we can get it to them." ("Don't
dribble it out, don't go for incrementalism," Lieberman warned.) Lugar
concluded the segment by predicting that the U.S. occupation of
Afghanistan would last "many, many years beyond" President Barack
Obama's current term.
On ABC's This Week, Sen. John McCain gave his appraisal of Obama's conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. (As the ABC web headline
put it, "McCain: Obama Doing What I Would Do on Battlefields.") Host
George Stephanopoulos asked McCain about the public's attitude towards
the war: "The majority now say that it's not worth fighting. Two to
one, they don't want more troops. The clock is ticking both with the
public and Congress. You say 12 to 18 months. What do we need to see in
12 to 18 months to make sure the public and the Congress stay behind
this war?" Note that the issue for the host is shaping public opinion
to conform to the policy, rather than asking whether the policy should
change in response to public opinion.
On the show's roundtable, conservative columnist George Will was the
most forceful critic of the war (saying, "I think the American people
are right about this"), while liberals Paul Krugman and Robert Reich
downplayed both the political significance of the war and the
importance of recent polls; Krugman said that he would like to ask
Americans who are surveyed to find Afghanistan on a map.
CBS's Face the Nation did not feature a discussion of Afghanistan this week. Last week (8/16/09),
the program featured former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel and former
Democratic Rep. Lee Hamilton, neither of whom seemed to have a strong
opinion about the war.
It makes sense that government officials would try to reverse the trend
of declining public support for the war by going on TV. But why are the
networks allowing themselves to be used this way? Why is the corporate
media response to rising dissatisfaction with the Afghanistan War not
an effort to include that point of view in the discussion, but to bring
on more officials to explain to the public why their opinions are wrong?
ACTION:
Encourage the Sunday morning shows to acknowledge the public's views on
Afghanistan by including peace advocates and other critics of the
escalation of the war as guests on their programs.
CONTACT:
NBC's Meet the Press
Email: meetthepressquestions@nbcuni.com
Webform: https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6872152/ns/meet_the_press/
ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous
Email: thisweek@abc.com
CNN's State of the Union
Email: StateoftheUnion@CNN.com
CBS's Face the Nation
Email: ftn@cbsnews.com
Please post copies of your letters in the comments section on the FAIR Blog.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.