Local Media Continue to Selectively “Balance” Anti-war Voices

In our studies on local media coverage of the Iraq war, we have noted that the local TV stations relied almost exclusively on official sources, government or military, for war reporting. These news outlets acted primarily as a conduit for official sources, rarely questioning or providing other perspectives, whether they are national or local. And yet, in the limited instances where the local media do report on a local event or action opposed to the war, great efforts are made to provide “balance” by including pro-war voices.

The coverage of yesterday’s national vigil to show support for Cindy Sheehan was no exception. While all three TV stations and the Grand Rapids Press covered the event, the coverage was superficial and lacked context. The Grand Rapids Press article on this event, while quoting several participants, gave the most print space to a seventeen year old counter-protestor who though the event was “ridiculous.” WXMI FOX 17 did a story that was almost three minutes long. In this piece they interviewed a local woman opposed to the war who has a son in Iraq. This was followed by an interview with another local soldier’s mother, a woman who was not at the vigil and supported the war. WZZM 13 also ran a fairly lengthy piece in which they gave brief quotes from some of the organizers and participants of the vigil. After the piece ended, the newsreader stated: “Now that you’ve heard from the people who think that US forces should pull out of Iraq, we’d like to hear from those of you in support of the war. So you can call our talkback line at that number right there, 559-1302 and tell us why you think American military should stay in Iraq, we’ll listen to some of your responses at the end of tonight’s newscasts.” Some of these call-in responses were then played at the end of the broadcast. WOOD TV 8 reported in a short story that the vigil had taken place, but did not give any details or interview anyone.

Providing more than one perspective on an issue is one of the requirements of good journalism. And yet, it seems that the local media seem to hold to this standard only when reporting on voices or events that are critical of the war in Iraq, and not vice-versa. Stories and articles reporting on local soldiers and families, which make up a large percentage of the local news coverage of the Iraq war, almost never contain any perspectives critical of US government policy. In stories about unfolding events in Iraq, the voices presented are almost always governmental or military, and if an opposing voice is heard, it quite often is still coming from a “official” source, that is, an opposition voice within the government. Grass roots and citizen groups opposed to the war, while representing the concerns and opinions of large percentages of the American populace, are usually excluded, or if included, are juxtaposed with opposing voices.

For people who feel that the local media have, by selectively “balancing” stories only when reporting anti-war perspectives, failed to fulfill their obligation to serve the public interest, we would suggest contacting the news directors at the three local TV Stations as well as the editorial staff at the Grand Rapids Press and demand that they provide better coverage of these crucial news topics.

Links to Articles:

WOOD TV 8 article
WZZM 13 article
WXMI FOX article
Grand Rapids Press article

Contact:

WOOD TV 8
News Director: Patti McGettigan
Phone #: 771-9366
E-mail: patti.mcgettigan@woodtv.com

WXMI FOX 17
News Director: Tim Dye
Phone #: (616) 364-1717
E-mail: tdye@wxmi.com

WZZM 13
News Director: Tim Geraghty
Phone #: (616) 785-1313
E-mail: tgeraght@wzzm.gannett.com

Grand Rapids Press
Editor: Mike Lloyd
Phone #: (616) 222-5455