An intervention of FAIR

Sun Nov 4 21:14:34 UTC 2001

Dear friends,

I append a recent intervention of FAIR about the CNN coverage of the war
in Afghanistan because it has very direct implications for any critical
discourse analysis of the news about that war, including actual
proposals for the formulation of news. Fascinating (though not
surprising) facts. Also, for those who did not know FAIR, an example of
their useful work and testimony that fortunately, also in the USA, the
consensus is not total hegemony.

Cheers

Teun A. van Dijk

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ACTION ALERT:
CNN Says Focus on Civilian Casualties Would Be "Perverse"

November 1, 2001

According to the Washington Post (10/31/01), CNN Chair Walter Isaacson
"has
ordered his staff to balance images of civilian devastation in Afghan
cities
with reminders that the Taliban harbors murderous terrorists, saying it
'seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties or hardship in
Afghanistan.'"

Post media reporter Howard Kurtz quotes a memo from Isaacson to CNN's
international correspondents: "As we get good reports from
Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, we must redouble our efforts to make
sure we
do not seem to be simply reporting from their vantage or perspective. We

must talk about how the Taliban are using civilian shields and how the
Taliban have harbored the terrorists responsible for killing close to
5,000
innocent people."

The memo went on to admonish reporters covering civilian deaths not to
"forget it is that country's leaders who are responsible for the
situation
Afghanistan is now in," suggesting that journalists should lay
responsibility for civilian casualties at the Taliban's door, not the
U.S.
military's.

Kurtz also quotes a follow-up memo from Rick Davis, CNN's head of
standards
and practices, that suggested sample language for news anchors:

" 'We must keep in mind, after seeing reports like this from
Taliban-controlled areas, that these U.S. military actions are in
response
to a terrorist attack that killed close to 5,000 innocent people in the
U.S.' or, 'We must keep in mind, after seeing reports like this, that
the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan continues to harbor terrorists who have
praised the September 11 attacks that killed close to 5,000 innocent
people
in the U.S.,' or 'The Pentagon has repeatedly stressed that it is trying
to
minimize civilian casualties in Afghanistan, even as the Taliban regime
continues to harbor terrorists who are connected to the September 11
attacks
that claimed thousands of innocent lives in the U.S.' "

Davis stated that "even though it may start sounding rote, it is
important
that we make this point each time."

The New York Times reported (11/1/01) that these policies are already
being
implemented at CNN, with other networks following a similar, though
perhaps
not as formalized, strategy. "In the United States," the Times noted,
"television images of Afghan bombing victims are fleeting, cushioned
between
anchors or American officials explaining that such sights are only one
side
of the story." In other countries, however, "images of wounded Afghan
children curled in hospital beds or women rocking in despair over a
baby's
corpse" are "more frequent and lingering."

When CNN correspondent Nic Robertson reported yesterday from the site of
a
bombed medical facility in Kandahar, the Times reported, U.S. anchors
"added
disclaimers aimed at reassuring American viewers that the network was
not
siding with the enemy." CNN International, however, did not add any such

disclaimers.

During its U.S broadcasts, CNN "quickly switched to the rubble of the
World
Trade Center" after showing images of the damage in Kandahar, and the
anchor
"reminded viewers of the deaths of as many as 5,000 people whose
'biggest
crime was going to work and getting there on time.'"

If anything in this story is "perverse," it's that one of the world's
most
powerful news outlets has instructed its journalists not to report
Afghan
civilian casualties without attempting to justify those deaths. "I want
to
make sure we're not used as a propaganda platform," Isaacson told the
Washington Post. But his memo essentially mandates that pro-U.S.
propaganda
be included in the news.

ACTION: Please tell CNN to factually report the consequences of the U.S.
war
in Afghanistan without editorializing. Including a justification for the

bombing with every mention of civilian casualties risks turning CNN from
a
news outlet into a propaganda service.

CONTACT:
CNN, Walter Isaacson, Chairman and CEO
Phone: (404) 827-1500
Fax: (404) 827-1784
mailto:community at cnn.com

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously
if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair at fair.org with your
correspondence.

For further details, see Howard Kurtz's full Washington Post story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14435-2001Oct30.html

                                ----------

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