ABC News Bigwig Apologizes for P.C. Neutrality
NewsMax.com
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2001
Red-faced ABC News President David Westin today apologized for saying he had no opinion on whether the Pentagon was a legitimate target for terrorists.
Last week he told journalism students at Columbia University that ABC journalists should have no opinion on the terrorist atrocities. "Our job is to determine what is, not what ought to be, and when we get into the job of what ought to be, I think we're not doing a service to the American people," said Westin, a lawyer.
"I was wrong," he said today.
"Upon reflection, I realized that my answer did not address the specifics of September 11," he said. "Under any interpretation, the attack on the Pentagon was criminal and entirely without justification. I apologize for any harm that my misstatement may have caused."
Brent Baker of the watchdog group Media Research Center said, "This is an example to us of somebody at a very high level of the news media following a policy of journalist first, American second."
Will Westin also apologize for the many biased reports noted by Media Research Center? Here are just some of them:
ABC, by some mysterious standards of journalism known only to itself, deemed it not newsworthy that terrorists killed 16 Christians at a church in Pakistan on Sunday, but it made sure to dwell on two civilians killed by U.S. bombing. "An old woman cried out to God in pain," David Wright fretted. "The victims included children as young as four."
Hurray, we are a tool of Taliban propaganda: ABC’s Dan Harris admitted on Tuesday’s "World News Tonight" that the Taliban invited him into its territory because of "rising civilian casualties," which it sees as "an enormous public relations boon." "ABC’s Jim Wooten looked at how the U.S. is losing the public relations battle in Pakistan because the local press compliantly relays the Taliban’s uncorroborated claims about U.S. atrocities. But that’s just what ABC News itself has been doing for the past few weeks. Wooten dismissed a Taliban claim of 200 killed in a village, an allegation ABC had relayed, complete with video of a bloody pillow, body parts and dead goats." "ABC and NBC gave life to Taliban propaganda by airing video of injured civilians. ABC’s Dan Harris declared: 'U.S. attacks on a village near Kandahar killed 93 civilians on Tuesday, including 18 members of one family.' Harris prompted a doctor: 'How do you feel when you see these kids?' Harris directed him: 'Angry at the United States?' "ABC devoted a story Thursday night to supposed atrocities committed by the U.S. against civilians as ABC’s Bob Woodruff highlighted the claims of two men who had just fled Afghanistan. He reported that 'the Taliban believes more than a hundred civilians have died in the bombings.' They 'believe'?" "The U.S. just can’t win. 'Are the U.S. food drops on Afghanistan making matters worse? Some relief agencies say yes.' So declared Peter Jennings on Tuesday night. ABC and NBC stressed the futility of the effort, how the U.S. bombing, by inhibiting ground transportation, has made matters worse – and ABC just dismissed the food drop operation as U.S. 'propaganda.'" Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
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