{"article":{"id":12586,"heading":"CNN Says Focus on Civilian Casualties Would Be \"Perverse\" (FAIR)","author":"Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting","created":"2001-11-02 21:59:43","modified":"2005-08-15 00:42:37","last_modified":"Mon, 15 Aug 2005 07:42:37","article":"
                                 \r\nFAIR-L
                    \r\nFairness & Accuracy in \r\nReporting
               \r\nMedia analysis, critiques and news reports<\/div>\r\n
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ACTION ALERT:
CNN Says Focus on Civilian \r\nCasualties Would Be \"Perverse\"<\/div>\r\n
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November 1, 2001<\/div>\r\n
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According to the Washington Post (10\/31\/01), CNN \r\nChair Walter Isaacson \"has
ordered his staff to balance images of civilian \r\ndevastation in Afghan cities
with reminders that the Taliban harbors \r\nmurderous terrorists, saying it
'seems perverse to focus too much on the \r\ncasualties or hardship in
Afghanistan.'\"<\/div>\r\n
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Post media reporter Howard Kurtz quotes a memo from \r\nIsaacson to CNN's
international correspondents: \"As we get good reports \r\nfrom
Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, we must redouble our efforts to make \r\nsure we
do not seem to be simply reporting from their vantage or perspective. \r\nWe
must talk about how the Taliban are using civilian shields and how \r\nthe
Taliban have harbored the terrorists responsible for killing close to \r\n5,000
innocent people.\"<\/div>\r\n
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The memo went on to admonish reporters covering \r\ncivilian deaths not to
\"forget it is that country's leaders who are \r\nresponsible for the situation
Afghanistan is now in,\" suggesting that \r\njournalists should lay
responsibility for civilian casualties at the \r\nTaliban's door, not the U.S.
military's.<\/div>\r\n
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Kurtz also quotes a follow-up memo from Rick Davis, \r\nCNN's head of standards
and practices, that suggested sample language for \r\nnews anchors:<\/div>\r\n
 <\/div>\r\n
\" 'We must keep in mind, after seeing reports like \r\nthis from
Taliban-controlled areas, that these U.S. military actions are in \r\nresponse
to a terrorist attack that killed close to 5,000 innocent people in \r\nthe
U.S.' or, 'We must keep in mind, after seeing reports like this, that \r\nthe
Taliban regime in Afghanistan continues to harbor terrorists who \r\nhave
praised the September 11 attacks that killed close to 5,000 innocent \r\npeople
in the U.S.,' or 'The Pentagon has repeatedly stressed that it is \r\ntrying to
minimize civilian casualties in Afghanistan, even as the Taliban \r\nregime
continues to harbor terrorists who are connected to the September 11 \r\nattacks
that claimed thousands of innocent lives in the U.S.' \"<\/div>\r\n
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Davis stated that \"even though it may start \r\nsounding rote, it is important
that we make this point each \r\ntime.\"<\/div>\r\n
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The New York Times reported (11\/1\/01) that these \r\npolicies are already being
implemented at CNN, with other networks following \r\na similar, though perhaps
not as formalized, strategy. \"In the United \r\nStates,\" the Times noted,
\"television images of Afghan bombing victims are \r\nfleeting, cushioned between
anchors or American officials explaining that \r\nsuch sights are only one side
of the story.\" In other countries, however, \r\n\"images of wounded Afghan
children curled in hospital beds or women rocking \r\nin despair over a baby's
corpse\" are \"more frequent and \r\nlingering.\"<\/div>\r\n
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When CNN correspondent Nic Robertson reported \r\nyesterday from the site of a
bombed medical facility in Kandahar, the Times \r\nreported, U.S. anchors \"added
disclaimers aimed at reassuring American \r\nviewers that the network was not
siding with the enemy.\" CNN International, \r\nhowever, did not add any such
disclaimers.<\/div>\r\n
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During its U.S broadcasts, CNN \"quickly switched to \r\nthe rubble of the World
Trade Center\" after showing images of the damage in \r\nKandahar, and the anchor
\"reminded viewers of the deaths of as many as 5,000 \r\npeople whose 'biggest
crime was going to work and getting there on \r\ntime.'\"<\/div>\r\n
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If anything in this story is \"perverse,\" it's that \r\none of the world's most
powerful news outlets has instructed its journalists \r\nnot to report Afghan
civilian casualties without attempting to justify those \r\ndeaths. \"I want to
make sure we're not used as a propaganda platform,\" \r\nIsaacson told the
Washington Post. But his memo essentially mandates that \r\npro-U.S. propaganda
be included in the news.<\/div>\r\n
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ACTION: Please tell CNN to factually report the \r\nconsequences of the U.S. war
in Afghanistan without editorializing. Including \r\na justification for the
bombing with every mention of civilian casualties \r\nrisks turning CNN from a
news outlet into a propaganda service.<\/div>\r\n
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CONTACT:
CNN, Walter Isaacson, Chairman and \r\nCEO
Phone: (404) 827-1500
Fax: (404) 827-1784
mailto:community@cnn.com<\/div>\r\n
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As always, please remember that your comments are \r\ntaken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with \r\nyour
correspondence.<\/div>\r\n
 <\/div>\r\n
For further details, see Howard Kurtz's full \r\nWashington Post story:
http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wp-dyn\/articles\/A14435-2001Oct30.html<\/div>\r\n
 <\/div>\r\n
                               \r\n----------<\/div>\r\n
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 <\/div>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"http:\/\/www.fair.org","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"According to the Washington Post (10\/31\/01), CNN Chair Walter Isaacson \"has ordered his staff to balance images of civilian devastation in Afghan cities with reminders that the Taliban harbors murderous terrorists, saying it 'seems perverse to focus too much on the casualties or hardship in Afghanistan.'\"","numcomment":1,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/2001\/11\/_fair-l_.htm","filesize":"11.8 kibibytes","article_url":"\/news\/2001\/11\/12586.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":12608,"heading":"Face the truth, CNN already is propagand","article":"CNN's integrity is already for sh#t...\r\ni.e.\r\n- the gulf war censorhip\r\n- military ops on news staff\r\n- fabricated distortions of civilian refugees in former Yugoslavia\r\n- palestinian celebration footage (despite supposed \"recant\" from \r\nperson who made allegations, whose recantation has also been in\r\nquestion)\r\n\r\nCNN is big brother. Their only credentials are corporate and federal...","author":"reason","parent_id":12586,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2001-11-03 22:13:51","modified":"2001-11-03 23:00:02","fileurl":""}]}