Blaming Newsweek

Analysis:

On May 17, WZZM 13 ran a short piece about the scandal surrounding a Newsweek article alleging that U.S. interrogators had desecrated a copy of the Koran. This was a very short piece and is indicative of how the local TV news covers international issues. The entire transcript is only four sentences, and, as we have often seen in local TV reporting, only the U.S. government version of events is presented. So the idea that these protests are solely the result of an article in Newsweek is not questioned in this brief report. Nor does the story address the issue of whether the charges of Koran abuse are true or not. The reporter states that “the policy is respect for the holy book”, and yet many cases of the Koran being abused have been reported in several different independent sources prior to the Newsweek article. On Sunday May 22 the LA times ran a story documenting several examples of the Koran being used during interrogations at Guantanamo bay. Also worth noting is the fact that anchor notes, without any comment, that the White house is proposing a story for Newsweek to run. Most people would consider it inappropriate in a society with a free press for the government to pressure news agencies to publish stories promoting the government version of events.

Story:

Newsreader: The Muslim world was ripped by more anti-American riots today and the Bush Administration asked Newsweek magazine to help stop that violence. In Indonesia there was another demonstration to protest alleged American desecration of the Koran. Today the White house proposed Newsweek put out stories on what the Administration calls the “truth about the Koran at U.S. military prisons like Guantanamo.” The policy there is respect for the Muslim holy book.