Protest Coverage
When a leading news agency opens a piece by stating "A nation says no to war..", you would think that the number of protesters would range in the millions, perhaps even rivaling New Years eve in Times Square. On second thought, perhaps not. Newsbusters analyzes the CBS News Radio's coverage of the anti-war protests this Saturday.
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Reporter Jim Taylor started his report saying "A nation says no to war ..." as an introduction to the story of the goings on in Washington. A "nation" says no? A few protests equates the the whole nation, CBS? Taylor intoned this phrase as if the entire of the United States had risen up to say no to the actions in Iraq. But, one protest in Washington and a few in scattered other cities does NOT a "nation" make. As Newsbuster Dan Riehl reminds us, even compared to previous Iraq war protests this one was smaller. And, compared to the protests the nation saw during the Vietnam war, the Iraq war has not produced anything near the numbers that supporters such as CBS wish to make it seem. So "tens of thousands" appeared in Washington to protest the war. By contrast, More than 1 million revelers were in Times Square for the recent New Years celebration. Let's get a bit more prospective. There are over 300 million people who live in America. About 3 million people live in the areas surrounding Washington D.C. There are about 550,000 people who live right in Washington D.C. itself. Yet, all they could muster was "tens of thousands"? |
We'll hear this in the media as some national uprising, lead by the various celebrities waving their rubber chickens. Gopgirl comments on the article accurately when saying, "the MSM never reports any Pro-Life rallies as "Nation says no to abortion".
Regardless of your stance on the issues, it is an injustice that the MSM refuses to report things fairly.