Pentagon Monitors Peace Groups

Analysis:

WOOD 8 was the only station to report on this story. This is most likely due in part to the fact that this story was first reported by NBC news, which is the parent affiliate of WOOD 8. The story is a little over a minute long and in many ways is a commercial for the 6:30 NBC nightly news broadcast. The story consists of an introductory sentence from the local newsreader and then cuts to an NBC senior investigative reporter in a studio giving a very cursory description of the story and urging viewers to watch the 6:30 news for more information.

In the piece, the NBC reporter says that the Pentagon has been monitoring anti-war and peace groups around the country and in some cases labeling these groups in their database as a “threat.” Then the reporter proceeds to tell the viewer that the Pentagon has released a statement that they “have begun a thorough revue of their entire domestic intelligence program” and that their intelligence officers will be required to take “refresher classes on how to properly collect and store intelligence to protect the privacy rights of use citizens.” No other information is included, such as the specific organizations that were monitored nor were any voices from these groups included. Nor was their any questioning of the Pentagons statements or any information provided about the results or effectiveness of previous Pentagon internal investigations. This reporting of government positions without any critical analysis or alternative voices in quite common on the local TV news, which tends to rely on government sources of information often exclusively, without asking critical questions.

Story:

WOOD 8 Newsreader – As NBC news first reported, the Pentagon has been collecting intelligence on anti-war activists inside the US. NBC News senior investigative reporter Lisa Myers has more on this investigation.

Reporter – As we’ve been reporting, NBC News obtained a secret Pentagon database showing that the military has been monitoring anti-war groups across the country, in some cases labeling their peaceful activities a threat. Now the Pentagon initially declined to comment about all this, but today Pentagon officials reversed course, admitting that some of the information on peaceful anti-war activists should not have been in the data base. The Pentagon also announced today that they have begun a thorough revue of their entire domestic intelligence program, which is designed to amass information on real threats to military personnel and bases inside the US. And the Pentagon is now ordering all military intelligence officials to take refresher classes on how to properly collect and store intelligence to protect the privacy rights of use citizens. We’ll have much more on this story tonight on the NBC nightly news with Brian Williams.

Total time: 1 minute, 11 seconds