I was working out in the gym this morning, listening to the CNN coverage of the 2000 death milestone, something that's getting a lot of media attention today. What I heard really ticked me off.
Before I get into that, let me just say that this post isn't about the War or how badly I feel about those lost men and women or George Bush. It's about the practice of journalism.
Here's my standard disclaimer. I'm a life-long registered Democrat, and a former CNN correspondent, but when something's wrong, something's wrong, no matter where it falls. Here's what's wrong --
Democrats take it as an article of faith that FOX News is biased and use that opinion as red meat to rally their own supporters. That's okay, Republicans get to use the New York Times for the same purposes. Personally, though, I don't think the case about FOX is as clear as the Dems want it to be -- I usually find FOX to have most of its opinions clearly labeled as such. That's why what CNN does really gets to me. They continually allow their correspondents and anchors to stick their opinions into the news segments and then pretend they don't.
So, anyway, there I am on the elliptical trainer and a blonde CNN anchor is interviewing a correspondent who's been hanging with troops in the 3rd ID south of Baghdad. She asks him what those troops (who have lost 14 of their own just last summer) think of this tragic 2000 death number. His reply is clear. He says they don't think about numbers like that at all. What they think about is their buddies to the right and the left of them and how they can all complete their daily missions and keep each other alive. He basically says that thinking about numbers is a luxury they can't afford and one they will let others contemplate.
The anchorwoman listens to this and then sums up this interview with words to the effect that the field reporter's story shows that troops in Iraq are saddened and surprised to see this 2000 death number reached so quickly, that they never thought it would happen so fast.
Wait a minute! That's not what the guy who's there with the troops just said. I also attended Journalism school years ago and one of the basic things we were taught was to listen to the people you interview, to hear what they're telling you and to try not to force their real stories into your pre-conceived ones but to follow the facts as they are.
This anchorwoman acted like she'd not heard a word the reporter said. She knew what she thought, and her remark was either scripted for her by someone else, or scripted before the interview in her own head. Either way, it's just not good journalism.
If FOX News is to be held accountable for slant or bias, then the same standard should apply to CNN. I don't care if this anchorwoman is anti-war or anti-Bush or whatever. I do expect her to listen carefully to a reporter who is embedded with American troops patrolling in the Sunni Triangle and to give his version of events at least as much weight as her own opinions formed in the air conditioned comfort of her studio in Atlanta.
And, honestly, I don't really think this should be a Republican or a Democratic position. We should call any and all offenders on it when we see this kind of sleepwalk journalism.
