Bozell to CNN Chairman Walton: Coverage of War Protests is Biased and Distorts Reality - Press Release - March 25, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 25, 2003

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Katie Wright at (703) 683-5004 ext. 132

Bozell to CNN Chairman Walton:
Coverage of War Protests is Biased and
Distorts Reality

Events’ Sponsors And Anti-American Rhetoric Are Kept From
The Public As Protests And Protesters Are Sanitized

ALEXANDRIA, Va. --- Media Research Center President Brent Bozell has written new CNN Chairman Jim Walton, informing him the MRC’s analysis of CNN’s coverage of anti-war protests this past weekend reveals CNN was biased and “made virtually no effort to provide context.”

“I regret that my first communication to you as the new chairman of the CNN News Group must be to alert you to the biased nature of CNN’s coverage of war protests. This regret is tempered, however, by the hope that under your leadership, the kind of coverage aired over the weekend will not be repeated,” Bozell wrote to Walton.

Bozell told Walton that MRC analysts reviewed the 12 hours and five minutes of coverage on Saturday, March 22 as protests in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles were occurring. CNN ran an astonishing 38 reports on these protests in that time. In those 38 reports, MRC analysts found the following:

Not one of the reports examined the events’ sponsor – International ANSWER – which is an outgrowth of the communist Workers World Party. Even David Corn of the ultra-left-wing Nation magazine confirmed WWP’s “not-too-hidden hand in the nascent anti-war movement.”
Not one of CNN’s stories aired any of the rhetoric coming from the stages at the events, much of which were vitriolic, radical and anti-American speeches.
Only once in all of its coverage did CNN provide any context, as anchor Heidi Collins noted briefly that polls show Americans overwhelming supporting the war.

To schedule an interview with Mr. Bozell, or another MRC spokesperson,
please contact Katie Wright at 703-683-5004 ext. 132