Newsweek: Hail to the Chief
zapped fruit bat | 01.12.2001 09:20
If there's a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in it with its interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01) Another astounding example of how the world is in the hands of a half baked cretin with the I Q
lower than dead moth. It's like a fairy tale, what makes it worse is that, if he is a jerk what does that make the rest of us ?? He has a free hand to do what ever he likes with our world our future our lives, it's beam me up time ..
lower than dead moth. It's like a fairy tale, what makes it worse is that, if he is a jerk what does that make the rest of us ?? He has a free hand to do what ever he likes with our world our future our lives, it's beam me up time ..
FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT:
Newsweek: Hail to the Chief
November 30, 2001
If there's a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in it with its interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01).
Written by Newsweek senior editor Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Martha Brant, the profile of the Bushes focuses relentlessly positive attention on the "First Couple's" emotional responses to the September 11 attacks. New details about atrocities by U.S.-backed forces in
Afghanistan are emerging daily, but the central question in the Newsweek exclusive was: "From where does George W. Bush-- or Laura, for that matter-- draw the strength for this grand mission, the ambitious aim of which is nothing less than to 'rid the world of evildoers'?"
Faith, prayer, and love of family are the article's main themes, with almost no space devoted to political questions. "The First Team has been exemplary in the eyes of the American people," declared Newsweek. Bush "has been a
model of unblinking, eyes-on-the-prize decisiveness. His basic military strategy... has proved astute. He has been eloquent in public, commanding in private. He had survived the first blows, made the right calls and exceeded
expectations-- again."
Bush isn't just a man of the mind, though. "Another source of strength," noted the magazine, "is physical conditioning." According to Newsweek, Bush "is in the best shape of his life, a fighting machine who has dropped 15 pounds and cut his time in the mile to seven minutes.... He feels destined
to win-- and to serve."
The magazine was also thorough in addressing-- and dismissing-- facts about Bush that might be perceived as flaws. The president doesn't read many books, Newsweek explained, because "he's busy making history, but doesn't
look back at his own, or the world's.... Bush would rather look forward than backward. It's the way he's built."
The toughest questions were philosophical. "Do you think that Saddam Hussein
is evil and that we should expand this to Iraq?," asked Newsweek. Noting that Bush answered without using the word evil, the magazine followed up with, "Why wouldn't you say he's evil then?", to which Bush replied simply:
"He ain't good." Showing a diligence unmatched elsewhere in the interview, the reporters asked once again why he stopped short of using the word. A beleaguered Bush gave in, saying, "maybe because you're trying to force me to say it, and I'm stubborn.... He is evil. Saddam's evil."
Newsweek says that the White House spin machine had nothing to do with their portrayal of Bush. In this interview, wrote Newsweek, "there were few mangled sentences. The handlers at the table were listening, not handling."
Maybe that's because Newsweek was doing their job for them.
In times of war and crisis, it is doubly important that media aggressively seek truth and report it to the public. For a major newsweekly to turn an exclusive interview with the president into a puff piece would be disappointing under any circumstances, but it is particularly so at a time
when the U.S. government is taking extreme measures to cloak controversial military and law enforcement actions in secrecy, both at home and abroad.
ACTION: Please ask Newsweek to provide critical and independent coverage of the Bush administration.
CONTACT:
Newsweek
Washington Bureau
Phone: (202) 626-2000
Fax: (202) 626-2011
mailto:
letters@newsweek.com
To send feedback using Newsweek's web form, go to:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/Newsweek/feedback/nwfeedback.asp?cp1=1
To read the Newsweek article and interview, see:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/662694.asp
http://www.msnbc.com/news/662706.asp
As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair@fair.org with your
correspondence.
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Media analysis, critiques and news reports
ACTION ALERT:
Newsweek: Hail to the Chief
November 30, 2001
If there's a propaganda hall of fame, Newsweek has surely earned a place in it with its interview with George W. and Laura Bush (12/3/01).
Written by Newsweek senior editor Howard Fineman and White House correspondent Martha Brant, the profile of the Bushes focuses relentlessly positive attention on the "First Couple's" emotional responses to the September 11 attacks. New details about atrocities by U.S.-backed forces in
Afghanistan are emerging daily, but the central question in the Newsweek exclusive was: "From where does George W. Bush-- or Laura, for that matter-- draw the strength for this grand mission, the ambitious aim of which is nothing less than to 'rid the world of evildoers'?"
Faith, prayer, and love of family are the article's main themes, with almost no space devoted to political questions. "The First Team has been exemplary in the eyes of the American people," declared Newsweek. Bush "has been a
model of unblinking, eyes-on-the-prize decisiveness. His basic military strategy... has proved astute. He has been eloquent in public, commanding in private. He had survived the first blows, made the right calls and exceeded
expectations-- again."
Bush isn't just a man of the mind, though. "Another source of strength," noted the magazine, "is physical conditioning." According to Newsweek, Bush "is in the best shape of his life, a fighting machine who has dropped 15 pounds and cut his time in the mile to seven minutes.... He feels destined
to win-- and to serve."
The magazine was also thorough in addressing-- and dismissing-- facts about Bush that might be perceived as flaws. The president doesn't read many books, Newsweek explained, because "he's busy making history, but doesn't
look back at his own, or the world's.... Bush would rather look forward than backward. It's the way he's built."
The toughest questions were philosophical. "Do you think that Saddam Hussein
is evil and that we should expand this to Iraq?," asked Newsweek. Noting that Bush answered without using the word evil, the magazine followed up with, "Why wouldn't you say he's evil then?", to which Bush replied simply:
"He ain't good." Showing a diligence unmatched elsewhere in the interview, the reporters asked once again why he stopped short of using the word. A beleaguered Bush gave in, saying, "maybe because you're trying to force me to say it, and I'm stubborn.... He is evil. Saddam's evil."
Newsweek says that the White House spin machine had nothing to do with their portrayal of Bush. In this interview, wrote Newsweek, "there were few mangled sentences. The handlers at the table were listening, not handling."
Maybe that's because Newsweek was doing their job for them.
In times of war and crisis, it is doubly important that media aggressively seek truth and report it to the public. For a major newsweekly to turn an exclusive interview with the president into a puff piece would be disappointing under any circumstances, but it is particularly so at a time
when the U.S. government is taking extreme measures to cloak controversial military and law enforcement actions in secrecy, both at home and abroad.
ACTION: Please ask Newsweek to provide critical and independent coverage of the Bush administration.
CONTACT:
Newsweek
Washington Bureau
Phone: (202) 626-2000
Fax: (202) 626-2011
mailto:
letters@newsweek.com To send feedback using Newsweek's web form, go to:
http://www.msnbc.com/modules/Newsweek/feedback/nwfeedback.asp?cp1=1 To read the Newsweek article and interview, see:
http://www.msnbc.com/news/662694.asp http://www.msnbc.com/news/662706.asp As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc
fair@fair.org with your correspondence.
----------
Feel free to respond to FAIR (
fair@fair.org ). We can't reply to everything, but we will look at each message. We especially appreciate
documented example of media bias or censorship. And please send copies of
your email correspondence with media outlets, including any responses, to us
at:
fair@fair.org . FAIR ON THE AIR: FAIR's founder Jeff Cohen is a regular panelist on the Fox
News Channel's "Fox News Watch," which airs which airs Saturdays at 6:30 pm
and Sundays at 11 pm (Eastern Standard Time). Check your local listings.
FAIR produces CounterSpin, a weekly radio show heard on over 130 stations in
the U.S. and Canada. To find the CounterSpin station nearest you, visit
http://www.fair.org/counterspin/stations.html . Please support FAIR by subscribing to our bimonthly magazine, Extra!
For more information, go to:
http://www.fair.org/extra/subscribe.html . Or call 1-800-847-3993. FAIR's INTERNSHIP PROGRAM: FAIR accepts internship applications for its New
York office on a rolling basis. For more information, see:
http://www.fair.org/internships.html You can subscribe to FAIR-L at our web site:
http://www.fair.org , or by sending a "subscribe FAIR-L enter your full name" command to
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU . Our subscriber list is kept confidential. You may leave the list at any time-- just send a message with "SIGNOFF FAIR-L" in the body to:
LISTSERV@LISTSERV.AMERICAN.EDU . FAIR
(212) 633-6700
http://www.fair.org/ E-mail:
fair@fair.org list administrators:
FAIR-L-request@american.edu
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