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Josh Silver

Josh Silver

Posted: March 26, 2008 04:30 PM

CNN Response to War Coverage Criticism? Just Call 'em "Rabid"


Last week, I reported on the Huffington Post about CNN's appalling coverage of anti-war protests that marked the five-year anniversary of the war in Iraq.

This week, CNN responded by mocking the criticism and dismissing it as "rabid."

Here's the kicker. CNN actually pointed to Comedy Central's Daily Show to justify its decision to make a mockery of an issue as serious as Iraq and the anti-war movement.

In October, 2004, Jon Stewart appeared on CNN's Crossfire, and shamed the show's host Tucker Carlson for "hurting America" with partisan hackery posing as news, and attempting to justify it by comparing Crossfire to The Daily Show:

CNN's Jeanne Moos -- along with Glenn Beck, Wolf Blitzer, Lou Dobbs and so many others -- should have been sitting next to Tucker Carlson to get schooled by Jon Stewart.

Here's the real irony. According to Pew Research, Daily Show viewers are actually better informed than people who watch cable news. Fifty percent of Daily Show viewers could name the Sunni branch of Islam, compared to only 41 percent of CNN viewers. A similar gap came about for identifying Scooter Libby (44% to 36%) and identifying Vladimir Putin (52% to 41%). CNN ended up in the middle of the pack; the worst performers were viewers of FOX (surprise), local TV news and network morning shows.

Spiro Agnew famously said, "Bad news drives out good news." These faux-TV journalists and their producers are omitting the most important stories at home and abroad so that they can obsess on horserace election punditry, and in their worst moments, trivialize issues like war and immigration.

Let's not forget that these people are on TV because the industry is owned by a handful of companies obsessed with profitmaking. Let's not forget that merely complaining and calling them out will not ultimately fix the problem. For that, we have to engage in media reform issues, stop media consolidation, protect the future of the Internet, and foster more critical, independent media. Otherwise, we're wasting our time as much as they are.

 
 
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lovethesinner
Yes, WE did.
02:04 PM on 03/27/2008
Agree with your viewpoint wholeheartedly, Josh.

Specifically on this issue of media reform, one candidate has been singled out as the only one to have taken the issue seriously. In their endorsement of Obama, Open Left states as one of it's top reasons:

"... many people have said that there are few policy differences between Obama and Clinton, but the truth is that their telecom policies could hardly be further apart from each other. Obama proposes exactly the sort of transformative, open telecommunications policy that we need to transform the media landscape in America, while Hillary Clinton's telecom proposals are nothing more than heinous corporate welfare. Without a transformed telecommunications landscape, we are going to have an extremely difficult time building a progressive America or passing any of our other legislation."

They have other good reasons to endorse him, here:

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4795

Thanks for bringing this up.

Obama-Webb '08
10:05 AM on 03/27/2008
Ratings/money driven broadcast media is made precisely to reduce and trivialize everything it touches, whether intentionally or not. The Daily Show is regarded as a news phenomenon, because it is on a channel that is ostensibly dedicated to comedy. This gives Stewart and Colbert special license to speak truth to power before a national audience. If Jennie Moose had done the exact same report on the Daily Show, Josh would've had nothing to say about it, because context is everything.
01:47 PM on 03/27/2008
Again people are missing Jon Stewart's point...The Daily Show is comedy/satire/whatever, not a serious news program...at least it's not supposed to be in theory. The problem is that CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and all the broadcast nets are doing such a dismal job in reporting real news and events, that The Daily Show in many cases has become a viable source for real information. That speaks very poorly for CNN and the rest, not for Jon Stewart.
09:56 AM on 03/27/2008
pull the plug on these idiots.and imus got fired and these clowns are still working.
09:54 AM on 03/27/2008
Great post. I use to have a lot more respect for CNN than I do now. I have seen it evolve or devolve into a little news, vanilla covered network that doesn't challenge the lies that are spread by their guests and hosts alike. How can the forth estate become so irrelevant in a time when it should be standing up truth to power? The only reason I can think of is that it has been bought and paid by corporate hypocrites who only care about the bottom line.
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castlerider
"A man's home is his castle"
09:14 AM on 03/27/2008
Thanks for a great post. Nothing I like better then to see liars and manipulators made out to what they really are.
It's important that we all get to vent on the Anchors and so-called bearers of any sort of truthful kind of message on the corporate media should be taken to task.

No wonder Rupert Murdoch is such a right winger. He is convinced running his network his way makes him more money, and does not want to be inconvenienced by having his minions be perceptive and honest. The sad thing is, he's very wrong. News is news, and should be intelligently, brutally and categorically honest, for the better of us all, and our nation.
cafemocha
No kool-aid or tea: just caffeinated commentary
03:38 AM on 03/27/2008
Jeanne Moos, you have completely lost it. Maybe you never had it though, that would explain it even beter. And it explains why ever time I see your segment on CNN I change the channel. You are not worth watching. ...Oh, was I being too harsh on you? You'll get no apology from me. But YOU might try making an apology to those protesting the war who also happen to be trying to save yours and my country. I'd like to see each of member of CNN's TV journalists caught on video while protesting something you care about. But that's soooo unlikely to ever happen, as you truly care about nothing worthwhile at all.
03:07 AM on 03/27/2008
Cnn's Cowbell Brown? Why, she was so discombobulated by the folks at Move.on.org for daring to challenge a General of the Administration of Commander-in-Chief George Bush, that she referred to them in one of her infotainments as "American insurgents."

A word to the wise, Josh, on account of Cowbell might well have your number.
10:33 PM on 03/26/2008
Kyra Phillips' reporting is consistently the most egregious:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/apr/19/iraq.samjones
Joan Walsh, news editor of the online magazine Salon, was more concerned about the behaviour of her colleagues who, after weeks of ignoring the civilian cost of the war, were now circling the wounded like vultures. "CNN hit rock bottom on Wednesday morning, when anchor Kyra Phillips interviewed Ali's doctor in Kuwait," said Walsh. "Dr Imad al- Najada explained that, although Ali told reporters he was grateful for his treatment, he also hopes no other 'children in the war will suffer like what he suffered'. Phillips seemed shocked by Ali's apparent inability to understand we were only trying to help him. 'Doctor, does he understand why this war took place? Has he talked about Operation Iraqi Freedom and the meaning. Does he understand it?'"
01:08 AM on 03/27/2008
I was also interested to see Kyra Phillips interviewing a bunch of Iraqi policemen in their barracks of over a thousand men. She asked them who they would like to see elected as president in the US elections. She was shocked when to a man they said either Barak Oboma or Hillary Clinton. Even more shocked when they told her, to a man, that John McCain was just another Bush and they looked forward to the Americans leaving as soon as possible. Poor Kyra, she must have run to the nearest General to be reassured the Iraqis love America being there.
07:39 PM on 03/26/2008
How about if some of the serious war protesters start booing some of the fringe nut group that supply those stupid visuals. They just make juicy targets for a serious subject.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
fuzzwald
07:43 AM on 03/27/2008
Those fringe groups are most likely goverment agents.
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Nutcase
Of, By and For - Elsewhere known as Psycho MD
05:39 PM on 03/26/2008
With Jon they proved themselves not to be competent at putting on a newscast. Now they have proven incapable of doing a comedy show. Perhaps you shouldn't be so hard on them.

Je pense, donc je suis populiste.
05:32 PM on 03/26/2008
Josh, I think you're on to something here. According to this press release, CNN really is trying to become The Daily Show:

http://www.turnerinfo.com/newsitem.aspx?P=CNN&CID01=e50a6742-64d2-40d9-a834-bd1b60001ccc

Which, according to your statistics, might actually be an improvement.
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swift goat pet for truth
The Life of the Land is preserved in Righteousness
11:53 PM on 03/26/2008
The reason CNN is just so plain BAD is that CNN is trying to become Faux News.
RabidRightRebel
A moderate voice who rejects the rabid right
05:31 PM on 03/26/2008
In the 60’s and 70’s the public was shocked by the comings and goings of the loony left. To the center it seemed that the loony left had no respect for anything which the country held dear. The backlash against this culture of moral indifference drove the Regan revolution.

Since the 90’s we have seen the rise of the rabid right. This group is the opposite to the loony left representing the worse of intolerance and greed that a society can generate. It’s most recognizable members are the fanatic neo-conservatives and right wing radio/TV hosts that spend their days spewing nothing but hatred and fear. While the mid-term election in 2006 may have represented the first backlash against the rabid right this year should see it strengthen.

This is happening because the center is; tired of the disconnect between promises and reality, angry at the hypocrisy and have had just about enough of the neo-conservative intolerance of other peoples views.

What a funny world we live in!
03:27 AM on 03/27/2008
The obvious true to anyone with a little understanding recent history. Peace.
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castlerider
"A man's home is his castle"
08:48 AM on 03/27/2008
Thanks for a very intelligent and well observed comment.

Makes me feel good that although I'm far from perfect, at least I hang out with intelligent people.

You're very right about what drove a lot of the culture moves, the backlashes and such. The likes of Charles Manson and Altamont did so much incredible damage to the peace movement. But looking back, those things could not really be contained or stopped; there's just too much evil in the world, and this IS the nation that commited genocide on the native Americans here.... We cant expect to be so lucky.
It should not be surprising that the great balance that seems to linger within that we as a nation are all striving for, especially those of us who seek peace, should take generations to reach.
But dammit, it's about time, now.
04:44 PM on 03/26/2008
Just because you have an opinion on how serious or not serious any one issue is doesn't mean that the media or the public agree with you. Just because you want things to be done a certain way doesn't mean that is the right way.

Other then the fact that they called you out, don't take things so personally. That's the knee-jerk reaction of children, not adults.
07:08 PM on 03/26/2008
Real adults would rather find out what's new with Paris and Britney. We don't need to know how the war is going - we all know the surge is working - so let's have an interview with this week's Survivor castaway. Aw crap - American Idol is on!
10:16 AM on 03/27/2008
The MSM is owned in no small part by weapons makers.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
msfiskvletterman
08:30 PM on 03/26/2008
3/26/08
8:30pm
Alexandria, VA

I saw the CNN response and was stunned by its childishness.