(Newsweek really lays it on thick...........)
--- Begin Message ---
FAIR-L
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT:
Newsweek: Hail to the Chief
November 30, 2001
If there's a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in
it with its interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01).
Written by Newsweek senior editor Howard Fineman and White House
correspondent Martha Brant, the profile of the Bushes focuses relentlessly
positive attention on the "First Couple's" emotional responses to the
September 11 attacks. New details about atrocities by U.S.-backed forces in
Afghanistan are emerging daily, but the central question in the Newsweek
exclusive was: "From where does George W. Bush-- or Laura, for that matter--
draw the strength for this grand mission, the ambitious aim of which is
nothing less than to 'rid the world of evildoers'?"
Faith, prayer, and love of family are the article's main themes, with almost
no space devoted to political questions. "The First Team has been exemplary
in the eyes of the American people," declared Newsweek. Bush "has been a
model of unblinking, eyes-on-the-prize decisiveness. His basic military
strategy... has proved astute. He has been eloquent in public, commanding in
private. He had survived the first blows, made the right calls and exceeded
expectations-- again."
Bush isn't just a man of the mind, though. "Another source of strength,"
noted the magazine, "is physical conditioning." According to Newsweek, Bush
"is in the best shape of his life, a fighting machine who has dropped 15
pounds and cut his time in the mile to seven minutes.... He feels destined
to win-- and to serve."
The magazine was also thorough in addressing-- and dismissing-- facts about
Bush that might be perceived as flaws. The president doesn't read many
books, Newsweek explained, because "he's busy making history, but doesn't
look back at his own, or the world's.... Bush would rather look forward than
backward. It's the way he's built."
The toughest questions were philosophical. "Do you think that Saddam Hussein
is evil and that we should expand this to Iraq?," asked Newsweek. Noting
that Bush answered without using the word evil, the magazine followed up
with, "Why wouldn't you say he's evil then?", to which Bush replied simply:
"He ain't good." Showing a diligence unmatched elsewhere in the interview,
the reporters asked once again why he stopped short of using the word. A
beleaguered Bush gave in, saying, "maybe because you're trying to force me
to say it, and I'm stubborn.... He is evil. Saddam's evil."
Newsweek says that the White House spin machine had nothing to do with their
portrayal of Bush. In this interview, wrote Newsweek, "there were few
mangled sentences. The handlers at the table were listening, not handling."
Maybe that's because Newsweek was doing their job for them.
In times of war and crisis, it is doubly important that media aggressively
seek truth and report it to the public. For a major newsweekly to turn an
exclusive interview with the president into a puff piece would be
disappointing under any circumstances, but it is particularly so at a time
when the U.S. government is taking extreme measures to cloak controversial
military and law enforcement actions in secrecy, both at home and abroad.
ACTION: Please ask Newsweek to provide critical and independent coverage of
the Bush administration.
CONTACT:
Newsweek
Washington Bureau
Phone: (202) 626-2000
Fax: (202) 626-2011
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To send feedback using Newsweek's web form, go to:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/Newsweek/feedback/nwfeedback.asp?cp1=1
To read the Newsweek article and interview, see:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/662694.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/662706.asp
As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc [EMAIL PROTECTED] with your
correspondence.
----------
Feel free to respond to FAIR ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] ). We can't reply to
everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate
documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of
your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to us
at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the Fox
News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 6:30 pm
and Sundays at 11 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings.
FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 130 stations in
the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit
http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html .
Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra!
For more information, go to:
http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993.
FAIR's INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: FAIR accepts internship applications for its New
York office on a rolling basis. For more information, see:
http://www.fair.org/internships.html
You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site: http://www.fair.org , or by
sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to
[EMAIL PROTECTED] . Our subscriber list is kept confidential.
You may leave the list at any time-- just send a message with "SIGNOFF
FAIR-L" in the body to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] .
FAIR
(212) 633-6700
http://www.fair.org/
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
list administrators: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
--- End Message ---
