"Big Media" downplays the "Big Story"

[Moses]

“Big Media” downplays the “Big Story”


CNHI News Service

— Many so-called “big media” outlets are failing their audiences miserably these days, but contrary to popular opinion, it’s not because they’re biased against conservatives. “Cowardly” or “inept” might be appropriate adjectives for Big Media as a collective entity, but the “liberal” tag no longer fits.

The recent tendency of Big Media to drop the ball – both at the state and national level – should suit President Bush and his loyalists just fine. It seems Big Media only gives ample attention to the Big Stories when a spotlight from alternative news sources can no longer be ignored. The reason for the reticence? Fear that they might be booted from the inner circles of power.

One big story Big Media has largely downplayed is the defection of key Republicans in Congress from their hawkish stance on the war in Iraq. They, like their Democratic counterparts, feel they were misled by the administration on Saddam Hussein’s capabilities.
Furthermore, the federal budget deficit is out of control, a situation exacerbated by war-related expenses. It should come as no surprise to anyone if Republicans – ostensibly the party of less government and tighter spending controls – have some objections.

One noteworthy conversion to the anti-war posture is Walter Jones, a GOP congressman for North Carolina. Local readers might not recognize the name, unless they recall the U.S. House of Representatives’ changing the name of “french fries” to “freedom fries” in Capitol Hill restaurants when France refused to support Bush’s impending attack on Iraq. The principal author of that childish measure (which also affected french toast) was Jones, who now regrets his action, and says the U.S. went to war “with no justification.”

When Jones circulated a letter demanding the name changes in March 2003, he said he did it due to “a combination of God’s hand and a constituent’s request.” But now Jones, whose hallway outside his office is lined with photographs of the “faces of the fallen,” admits he might have misinterpreted God’s will. In fact, his faith as a “conservative Christian” (he converted to Catholicism years ago) is responsible for his change of heart – which puts him in lockstep with Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, as well as almost every other Christian leader in the U.S. who can’t abide the wanton sacrifice of human lives.

Jones tearfully testified before the Armed Services Committee, saying Congress and the American people were due an apology for the deceptions that led to the attack on Iraq. “When you make a decision as a member of Congress and you know that decision is going to lead to the death of American boys and girls, some of us take that pretty seriously, and it’s very heavy on our hearts,” he said.

Jones is writing a personal letter to the families of every troop killed in Iraq. He met with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan, when the president refused to do so. He speaks out repeatedly and courageously when asked to do so by media outlets. Apparently, he’s not asked to do that very often, though. Although the Washington Post printed a feature on him and George Stephanopoulos interviewed him for ABC’s “This Week,” the story didn’t get the widespread play it deserved.

This isn’t “new” news, by the way: Jones began talking publicly about this in early 2005. He spoke before the Armed Services Committee April 6.

Chances are, you haven’t seen much about Jones’ denunciation of the war in a “big” national or state news publication or TV show, unless it’s one with a progressive bent (a current story in the liberal-leaning Mother Jones magazine has sparked interest). In most cases, this “news” was more of a footnote than a banner story. You may not be up to snuff, either, on how other key Republican lawmakers – like Reps. Howard Coble, Ron Paul and John Duncan Jr., as well as Sen. Chuck Hagel, and the Senate Armed Services Committee chair, Sen. John Warner – are also expressing reservations, if not downright opposition, to the war.
You may know most active-duty soldiers who have spoken to local media outlets (usually off the record) don’t like the war. But you may not be aware just how many former military, intelligence and foreign service officers have been speaking out against the war.

To name a few:
• Brent Skowcroft, Bush the Elder’s national security adviser, has called the Iraq War a “failing venture.”

• Retired Gen. William Odom, who headed the National Security Agency under President Reagan, wrote an article titled “What’s Wrong With Cutting and Running?”

• President Nixon’s secretary of defense, Melvin Laird, has called for an immediate exit strategy, saying the Bush administration is making the same mistakes in Iraq that his former boss made in Vietnam.

• Edward Peck, former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and deputy director for Reagan’s terrorist task force, who served in World War II and Korea, says the Iraq War is “unnecessary, poorly conceived and badly planned.”

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. The sad truth is, much of the Big Media is beholden to the Bush machine, and is therefore afraid to print the truth. Sadder still, many folks – especially those who voted for Bush – are afraid to read it.

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