| You
replied that LIBERAL MEDIA is BIASED
AGAINST |
| Despite
the tendency to minimize the number
of protesters and the sometimes hostile
headlines, liberal media generally represents
the position of the protesters in some
fashion, usually in the form of quotes
from participants. CNN.com, “Anti-war rallies in Washington, New York”, CNN “’When someone in the United States commits an atrocious crime as in an act of murder, we don’t go after their families or their community or their neighborhood,’ one demonstrator said. ‘We go in and arrest the individuals involved, and I think that’s what needs to be done here.’” September 29, 2001 Furthermore, the peacefulness of the protests was acknowledged in a positive manner. The Washington Post, “Demonstrators Rally to Palestinian Cause; Arab Americans, Supporters Drown Out Other Issues”, Manny Fernandez (Washington Post Staff Writer). “Walking down the sidewalk of Pennsylvania Avenue near the Justice Department as thousands filled the street, D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey praised the decorum of the demonstrations. ‘The organizers did an outstanding job,’ said Ramsey, baton in hand. ‘If it stays this way, it will be the best one we’ve ever had… This is really what protest ought to be.’” April 21, 2002, Page A1 However, other content within the articles reflects bias against the protesters. For example, misleading reporting, in some cases, presents the demonstrators in a negative manner:
“By afternoon, the more militant forces of the pro-Palestinian movement dominated, with swastikas and anti-Sharon and anti-Bush slogans and banners.” April 21, 2002, Page A1 By decontextualizing the intentions of protesters’ signs, this paragraph suggests that protesters were anti-Jewish and sympathetic to Nazism. However, the swastikas, regardless of whether or not their usage was appropriate or defensible, were employed in an ironic manner to draw parallels between the policies of the Israeli government and those of the Nazis. The “last word”, an important placement in terms of framing articles, is often given to opponents of the protesters. CNN and The New York Times both gave the last word to former President Bill Clinton, using variants of the same quote, in their articles about the September 29th protests.
“’They can say what they want to say and do whatever they want to do because this is America,’ Clinton said, referring to the protesters. ‘And the people who did this to America would not permit them the same right. If they lived in Afghanistan, or if the future of the world of the Middle East was what Mr. bin Laden wants it to be, they would not be able to speak their mind.’” September 29, 2001
“At an appearance in Washington to raise scholarship money for victims of the attacks, former President Bill Clinton said that protesters ‘are welcome to say what they want to say.’ But, he added, ‘The people who did this to America would not permit them the same right.’” September 30, 2001, Page 2B Closing with this quote suggests support for the article’s logic, which is that, because the Taliban and bin Laden brutally deny people civil liberties and prevent people from protesting and because the US is at war with the Taliban and bin Laden, that Americans should not protest the war. This quote ironically appears to support US commitment to free speech, yet simultaneously deligitimates protest. This quote shifts focus from reasons to oppose war, and instead asserts the moral superiority of American national values. To close with this quote effectively accuses protesters of being anti-American, and thereby defends US military attacks on Afghanistan.
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