Redstate

By AcademicElephant Posted in War — Comments (9) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Blogger Bill Roggio gave the media a D+ for reporting the war in Iraq and the Global War on Terror in the course of his segment on CNN's "On the Story" today.

He is a generous grader.

Before Bill appeared, the host asked the audience if they trusted Iraq reporting. A few raised their hands, which the host assessed at 30%. Then he asked who, "like Donald Rumsfeld," did not trust the reporting and so many raised their hands that he was forced to say that wow, that looks like 90%. How surprising indeed that so many would agree with the Secretary of Defense. After Bill appeared and issued his D+ grade the interviewer suggested that as a former military man, he was not objective. Bill said that he was not a shill for the administration and noted his strong criticism of the Abu Ghraib episode. Then they tracked down one audience member that disagreed with Bill and gave him the microphone, although the host admitted that most of the audience agreed with Bill. This remained a silent majority.

Pentagon reporter Barbara Starr then chimed in--it was noted several times that she was the true expert because she "does this every day." She asserted that CNN is balanced in its reporting. After all, as she noted, they did give 24 hour live coverage to those pesky elections and they hardly would have done so if they were actually biased. But in her opinion, as Journalists their job is to separate administration spin from the facts because these are two different things. And it's not their fault the true facts are bad. Sure, she said, you can report on a new school being built but if people are too scared to send their children to the school that might be the story. Furthermore, she sagely pointed out, "there's no question--Iraq is a violent dangerous place and this war is ongoing." Jill Carroll is a prisoner in a room in Baghdad. Any reporter who goes there is a hero. Apparently it's too "complex" for someone like Bill to understand.

Roggio responded that he understood that there was a war going on in Iraq but that he's walked the streets with Iraqi and US troops in some of the most dangerous parts of the country such as the Al Anbar province and he has seen progress being made there. In his opinion, the full picture is not being reported because journalists won't embed.

The host cut Bill off to note that he is the only blogger to be so embedded (I suppose he has never heard of Michael Yon). Cut to commercial.

CNN does deserve some credit for inviting Roggio on to discuss this topic, but beyond that the segment played like a parody. Even after 90% of the audience agreed that Iraq reporting is unreliable, the CNN people including Barbara Starr refused to admit there was any problem with their reporting or to allow that independent voices like Bill Roggio might have something to contribute. Starr dismissively noted at one point that the Secretary of Defense and senior Pentagon brass are convinced that the public's negative impression of the Iraq mission is fueled by biased reporting. But I think Mr. Rumsfeld and his colleagues might find cause for encouragement in Ms. Starr's appearance, should any of them see it. Sure, "On the Story" is a minor show in a bad time slot, but this is a long journey that will take such small steps to begin; unwittingly or not this segment demonstrated the media's bias while the audience's response suggested that the public is beginning to recognize it for what it is.

Update [2006-3-20 7:56:17 by AcademicElephant]: The transcript is now available here. Here are the relevant bits from my standpoint:

VELSHI: You are on the story. Tell us what topics you want discussed. E-mail us at onthestory@cnn.com. Well Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hasn't been shy about criticizing the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUMSFELD: In a steady stream of errors all seem to be of a nature to enflame the situation and to give heart to the terrorists and to discourage those who hope for success in Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELSHI: All right. I want to ask our audience here about the level of confidence you have in the news that you get out of Iraq. Give me a show of hands if you have confidence in the news that comes out of Iraq. All right. Now let's see a show of hands. It looks like about 30 percent of you. Let's see a show of hands of those of you who don't have confidence like Donald Rumsfeld says. That looks like 90 percent of you. And 90 and 30 doesn't add up but we'll figure that out shortly.

and

TATTON: Now you went out there and you imbedded with a unit. But you're former military and you were invited by this unit to go out there. They had read your reporting already. Are you not too close to this to be objective yourself?

ROGGIO: No, I don't believe so. My purpose is to cover the military operations and cover the general war in Iraq and the general war on terror. I report the good and the bad. I'm trying to accurately report the story. I don't believe in one-sided reporting. If something good happens, I will explain it. If there is a setback, I will explain that as well and place it into context. I could, you know, some examples of that, Abu Ghraib. It was obviously a very big mistake for the military to do that. It was a political nightmare, a propaganda nightmare and a victory for al Qaeda.

and

VELSHI: Barbara Starr, our correspondent who has to deal with this every day. Barbara, what do you think of what Bill's saying?

Which was followed up by

VELSHI: Bill, that's pretty passionate for somebody who has to deal with this every day. What do you think?

Ms. Starr's response to Roggio:

STARR: It's just hard to know where to begin because I was at that press conference where Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said this. He is extremely frustrated. His view without question is that the lack of support in the United States for the war reflected in the polls is a direct result of negative media reporting, his view. The view of this administration is that this is largely the media's fault. One, you bet the media makes mistakes. There is no question about that. We couldn't turn out the volume. We do news. We don't do history. Responsible news organizations, responsible organizations correct their mistakes when they make them. There is also -- I'm not going to be quiet for a couple of minutes. There is also no question that this administration has engaged in what they call strategic communications, information operations, spin, spin, spin.

And one of the biggest tasks for journalists in covering Iraq is to sort out indeed the spin from the fact. And one of the other major tasks for journalists in covering Iraq is to understand that this war is happening to the people of Iraq. Many of them you bet. live in areas that are relatively safe. But if there's an IED, if there are snipers, if you are living in Baghdad and 50 bodies turn up choked and strangled, it's major combat. There is no question. As one person said to me, it's fine to report on the rebuilding of schools. But if you are too afraid to send your kid to school, which is the story?

So I think reporters feel that on the whole, they have done a responsible job. Here at CNN, we have covered many of the positive developments in Iraq. We have covered the elections around the clock when they are going on. We have interviewed many, many Iraqis endlessly in the last three years. But there is no question. Iraq is a violent dangerous place. And this war is ongoing. I mean, that's what's going on here. It's combat.

and then Bill getting the hook:

BILL ROGGIO, BILLROGGIO.COM: Sure.

I, again, I walked the streets of Iraq with the Iraqi troops and the U.S. soldiers and the people came out to greet us. We were -- the troops were working on projects, getting reconstruction set up. This is in Anbar Province. This is the worst part of Iraq. This story was never told and the reporting still indicates that Anbar is the worst province in Iraq.

I think that it's being reported...

ABBI TATTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bill, we appreciate...

ROGGIO: ... that because there is -- because reporters don't go out there and embed.

TATTON: Bill, we appreciate you joining us today.

Thank you so much.

Ali, as far as we know -- and Bill and I were discussing this earlier -- we think he's the first blogger to be invited to be an embedded reporter in Iraq.

Ali -- back to you.