1. ABC Stresses U.S. Failures & Harm, CBS U.S. Success & Help ABC's Peter Jennings stresses U.S. failures, enemy propaganda and how the war has hurt Iraqi civilians. But CBS and Dan Rather look at the positive, see U.S. successes and highlight how coalition forces are helping Iraqi civilians. Tuesday's World News Tonight and CBS Evening News provided illuminating illustrations of the contrasting approaches to the same events. 2. People in Baghdad Feel Safe Because Regime Says War Going Well From Baghdad, ABC's Richard Engel conceded in a Tuesday night story that U.S. bombing in the capital city hasn't "caused... continue reading
1. ABC Sees Coalition Forces as Threat to Iraqis, CBS as Helpers While ABC on Monday night couldn't figure out if Iraqis were pleased to see U.S. troops or just wanted food and focused on how the American arrival is threatening a "humanitarian disaster," CBS showed a U.S. Army soldier cradling an Iraqi child as his colleagues rendered medical aid to the family which had sought out the assistance of the U.S. forces. Plus, Jennings wanted to know why Iraqis are not cheering and why bio-chem weapons have not been found. 2. ABC Passes Along Claim Copter Shot Down by... continue reading
1. ABC: Celebrating Iraqis a Ruse, Donvan Find Anti-U.S. Anger ABC decides celebrating Iraqis were a ruse. Iraqis "tore down a picture of Saddam Hussein and jumped in the streets" when coalition forces arrived in Safwan -- "at least for the cameras," Peter Jennings snidely added before turning to ABC's John Donvan who maintained that when he went to Safwan "I didn't see anything like that." Donvan found residents who wanted to know: "Are you here to steal our oil?" Donvan also whined about how the coalition forces had not made the area safe for wandering journalists as he recounted... continue reading
1. Jennings Promotes Protest Leaders, Laments "Quiescent" Campuses On Friday night Peter Jennings rued to David Gergen that the administration has a "tendency" to "pretend" anti-war protests are not happening. Gergen agreed and then worried that since "Iraq is putting up so little resistance," the U.S. will appear to "have been a bully." Jennings largely tossed softballs to two anti-war group leaders, such as: "Why do you feel so strongly about this war?" And he saw an inadequate level of activism: "The college campus appears rather quiescent to some." And after a story in which Iraqi women recounted Hussein's torture... continue reading
1. Jennings Showcases Video of Injured Girl in Baghdad Hospital Less than 24 hours after the first U.S. missiles landed in Iraq, ABC's Peter Jennings highlighted video of an injured young Iraqi girl supposedly in a Baghdad hospital, even though he conceded "it's a little out of context" and "we cannot tell you what these pictures represent, except some poor child has been hurt." Jennings proceeded to relay the Iraqi regime's claim "that 37 people have been injured in the course of attacks on Baghdad today." 2. Koppel: "Tenuous" al-Qaeda Link Behind U.S. Invasion As U.S. tanks and Bradley armored... continue reading
1. ABC Caught Unprepared, Continues Airing 'The Bachelor' ABC News was caught unprepared by the start of the war. While CBS News and NBC News went live at about 9:32pm EST with their star anchor, White House reporter, Pentagon reporter and military analysts, as did CNN and FNC, ABC viewers had to endure 12 additional minutes of The Bachelor reality show reunion episode until ABC News cut in at 9:44pm EST with fill-in anchor Chris Wallace and Katy Textor, an off-air producer, who was thrust onto live television from the White House press briefing room. 2. Jennings Muses that Iraqis... continue reading
1. ABC & NBC Paint Daschle as Victim of "Harsh" Intimidation Tom Daschle, the victim of "harsh words" from Republicans who are "going after" him as part of "a pre-emptive strike, orchestrated by the White House, to try to intimidate" critics. On Monday, Daschle abandoned the norm of not delivering mean-spirited attacks on the President in a time of war which could undermine his moral authority, but instead of portraying Daschle as the one who had acted unwisely, ABC and NBC painted him as the victim of White House attacks. Only CNN's Aaron Brown portrayed Daschle as the one violating... continue reading
1. Nets Ignore Daschle's Blast at How Bush "Failed Miserably" Though on Monday afternoon Tom Daschle abandoned any pretense of unity in a time of war, as he charged that President Bush "failed so miserably at diplomacy that we're now forced to war" and suggested Bush should be blamed for the deaths of U.S. soldiers as asserted he's "saddened that we have to give up one life" because Bush failed, ABC, CNBC and NBC didn't see any Democratic dissent. "Democrats began to rally around the President in support of war," NBC's Campbell Brown maintained. Peter Jennings rued how there's been... continue reading
1. Jennings Advances His Anti-War Agenda as Sunday Night Anchor The summit in the Azores, Peter Jennings sniffed Sunday night, was just "a summit of the convinced, some people said, when the time might have been used to work on those who are not convinced that war is the way to go." Jennings also pressed a retired Lt. General to agree that "the U.S. would be somewhat readier if we waited a little longer" and highlighted a small anti-war protest as he insisted there is one "somewhere every day now." From Baghdad, Dan Harris trumpeted Iraq's "continued cooperation with the... continue reading
1. Jennings to Franks: Want "More Time"? WMD "Legitimate... Tools" Peter Jennings, in an interview conducted in Qatar with General Tommy Franks, worried if he has "enough men" to achieve his mission, suggested he might want "more time" before war begins, wondered if military targets next to schools and mosques would be "off limits," wanted to know if Franks has any "fear" about what could happen and asked Franks to put himself in Hussein's shoes: "If you were Saddam Hussein, do you think that chemical and biological weapons would be a legitimate tool in your box, in your tool kit?"... continue reading