Henry Imler June 14th, 2006

Touting Military Misdeeds, Hiding Heroes

It may be weeks or longer before officials announce
what, if any, charges will be filed stemming from allegations that U.S.
Marines killed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha last November.
But the allegations themselves have triggered a frenzy of network news
coverage over the past three weeks, much as did allegations of abuse at
the Abu Ghraib prison back in 2004.

While ABC, CBS and NBC have chosen to highlight this potential
scandal, a new Media Research Center study finds those same networks
have given far less attention to the heroic deeds of the 20 members of
the U.S. military who have received the highest recognition for bravery
since the war on terror began. In fact, 14 of the country’s top 20
medal recipients have gone unmentioned by ABC, CBS and NBC….

… If the Haditha allegations are true, it is certainly a major
story deserving widespread attention. But so much coverage — so far in
advance of any authoritative account of what happened — makes journalists seem eager to spread a story that portrays the U.S. military as bad guys.
The networks’ heavy coverage of Haditha stands in contrast to their
pattern of overlooking the stories of most of America’s top military
heroes in the war on terror.

I don’t know what happened in Haditha. The media doesn’t either.
Yet, they sure seem like they do. If they end up being guilty - that is
a story. If they are not, I guarantee that there will not be nearly as
much hoopla about them being cleared as the possibility that they are
guilty.

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