Wednesday, June 8, 2016

Bias in the Media....

Top of the afternoon everyone...

I have often had arguments with my father-in-law over where I get my news.  I usually read Fox news on line.  He says it is all lies.  I find it easier not to have the argument, so I remain silent.

He prefers CNN.  I stopped reading CNN regularly several years ago when I decided that their anti-Israel bias was way too evident.  My father-in-law has insisted that it has gotten better.

I respectfully differ.

There was an attack today in Tel Aviv.  Two Palestinians shot up Sorona complex.  For the record, there is nothing disputed about Tel Aviv.

The headline on CNN initially read: 9 shot in market area; 2 'terrorists' in custody.  If they were terrorists, why were the quotation marks necessary?  This is perplexing.

But wait!  There is more.

I tried to figure out a way to contact the nice folks at CNN to tell them to call a terrorist a terrorist.  It does not need quotation marks.  I was unable to find a way to contact them.

During the several minutes that I was trying to find the contact information, CNN changed the headline.  It now reads: 9 shot in market area; 2 attackers in custody.  The entire word is gone.

On April 28th, CNN's headline read: San Bernardino terrorist's brother arrested.  Clearly, when the attack takes place in the US, the word is acceptable.  Let's explore further.

On March 21st, CNN's headline read: Surviving Paris terrorist was planning new attacks.  So we can see that terrorism takes place in Paris.

On March 23rd, CNN invites us to "meet the victims of the Brussels terror attack."

CNN comfortably uses words like 'terrorism' and 'terror' in Europe and in the US.  They do so without the quotation marks.  What is the issue with Israel?  One wonders.

I will happily concede to my father-in-law that Fox might not get it right all the time.  However, lies exist beyond the distortion of facts.  It is a bald-faced lie to use words that deliberately distort facts.  It is also a lie to use words that deliberately conceal relevant facts.

CNN, I challenge you to use the word 'terrorism' in a headline that refers to Israel.

CNN, J'ACCUSE!

May the best of the day be yours.

R/SCG

Addendum: 9:02 PM - CNN's headline says that people were killed in a terror attack.  They were able to use the word.

Addendum: It is now Friday morning.  Since I wrote this, CNN has apologized for their vocabulary.  They have called this a terrorist attack.