BIAS IN THE MEDIA

It used to be that “The Power of the Press” meant that newspapers had the ability to sway their readership because it was their major source of news. Now the power has expanded to include the press, radio, TV and the internet.

With the precarious state of the United States economy, the rate of unemployment and the danger facing the world due to the global war on terror the speed at which news is circulated has a greater impact on the readership and on the events as well. Objective reporting is all the more important because biased reporting could change the course of events and history. At times it makes little difference if the media reporting is labeled biased or politically correct. The information is still distorted.

As a result of expressing his personal feelings while being interviewed on FOX-TV Juan Williams, senior NPR news analyst, stated that he “gets nervous if he is at an airport and sees a person in Muslim garb.” Subsequently NPR fired Williams stating his remarks "were inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices.” Was NPR showing a biased reaction or succoring to political correctness and/or Islamic pressure?

I find it difficult to accept the Washington Post’s logic in not publishing a cartoon that only mentioned “Muhammad.” The cartoon showed kids and animals playing in a park asking “Where is Muhammad? Yet on March 29, 2010 the Washington Post printed a cartoon, I would consider more negative, that showed a picture of Jesus with the words, "Let the Children Come to Me." In the same panel, there is a priest with the inscription "Decades of Abusive Priests" on his clothing, and another priest saying, "What a Great Recruitment Poster." The decisions to publish a negative Christian cartoon and not the Islamic cartoon seems to clearly be a bias favoring Islam over Christianity.

Eboo Patel, a member of President Barack Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-Based Neighborhood Partnerships and a columnist with the Washington Post, on October 4, 2010 asked “How is it that fear of Muslims in America is actually higher nine years post 9/11?” Yet According to a August 28,2010 FBI report hate crimes against Muslims are relatively rare. Is Eboo biased or did he also make a mistake?

Then we have the ‘New York Times’ of October 15, 2010 covering the Fort Hood killing spree trial. Doctor Maj. Nidal Malik Hasen is on trial for killing 13 people while shouting “Allah Akbar”. In Arabic Allah Akbar has many meanings. Very commonly “God is Great” It is also believed by some that Muhammad, the Islamic prophet, used Allah Akbar as a battle cry when going into battle and it is also used by suicide bombers. I can’t understand how “The New York Times” can make the statement “Yet the gunman and his motive remain an enigma” unless they are showing bias or have succumbed to Islamic pressure.

A recent ABC-TV’s 20/20 program “Islam Q & A,” with Diane Sawyer presented Revolution Muslim (org.) as America’s first line of defense against terrorism. Both Revolution Muslim and Sadq Abul Malik were looked at as a moderate. However both have a history of seeming radical. Listen to http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/10/abc-news-promotes-us-jihadists-as-americas-first-line-of-defense-against-terrorism.html and learn how scary, radical and anti-USA Sadq Abul Malik is.

You might not feel that ABC’s Christiane Amanpour’s program, “Should Americans Fear Islam,” was biased. Take another look.and re-consider. http://onfaith.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/eboo_patel/2010/10/how_to_build_a_fear_bomb.html Christiane had 9 speakers of which six were pro Islam. Two to one against does not sound or look like unbiased, balanced reporting. This represents twice the time taken by the Pro-Islamists.

Do the above make you consider the possibility that media such as the Washington Post, NPR, The New York Times and ABC-TV are a bit biased?
The importance of unbiased, objective reporting can not be over emphasized. At times political correctness is no different than outright bias. It can’t be emphasized enough that biased reporting and political correctness are very harmful to our future and freedom. If the above information causes you to look carefully at your sources, particularly the major media, than I have preformed a valuable service. If you would like a list of focused internet sources send me an-mail (EdzIegler@Embarqmail.com)