1. Schieffer Touts 'Hundreds of Thousands' of Anti-War Protesters
Though all other major news outlets, including his own network's Saturday evening newscast, pegged the number of people who attended Saturday's anti-Iraq war protest rally in Washington, DC as in the "tens of thousands," CBS's Bob Schieffer led Sunday's Face the Nation by endorsing the exaggerated attendance claims of self-interested organizers as he reminisced about the good old days of Vietnam protests. "Yesterday in Washington," he recalled, "was like a day from yesteryear -- the war that to many seems long ago and far away: the war in Vietnam. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people descended on the capital to protest the war in Iraq." Schieffer's opening of the January 28 Face the Nation segued into his lead interview with freshman Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia.

2. Networks Deliver Sympathetic Portrait of Anti-Iraq War Protests
On Saturday evening, the broadcast networks highlighted the anti-Iraq War protests in Washington, D.C., and other cities. While ABC's World News Saturday drummed up the anti-war movement as "getting warmed up," displaying the words "Peace Surge" on-screen, the CBS Evening News focused on military families who are part of the movement, suggesting that such participants could provide "political cover" to Democrats who fear looking "unpatriotic" if they "stand up to the President." The NBC Nightly News led with the story, with correspondent John Yang relaying a Newsweek poll showing that 67 percent of Americans believe the President's Iraq policy is "based on his personal beliefs regardless of facts."

3. Washington Post Coverage of Anti-War vs. Anti-Abortion Protests
Within one week, the liberal bias of the Washington Post has been made perfectly obvious. On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters emerged on Washington for the March for Life, but the hometown paper put the story on the bottom of page A-10 Tuesday morning. On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters emerged on Washington for a rally against President Bush and the war in Iraq. The Post blasted that story across the front page on Sunday, complete with a large color picture taking a wide shot of hundreds of marchers and their signs and banners. Tuesday's story on abortion protests matched carried no wide shot of hundreds. It showed four pro-life marchers, and matched them with another picture of five feminists counter-protesting. There were no photos of conservative counter-protesters in the Sunday paper.

4. NBC Relays Frustrations of Soldiers Disturbed by War Opposition
Friday's NBC Nightly News gave rare voice to soldiers in Iraq disturbed by criticism of the war back home. Embedded with the Army's Stryker Brigade's Apache Company (the Fort Lewis, Washington-based 1st Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Regiment) in Hurriya, Richard Engel relayed how "troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for. Twenty-one-year-old Specialist Tyler Johnson is on his first tour in Iraq. He thinks skeptics should come over and see what it's like firsthand before criticizing." Johnson asserted: "You may support or say we support the troops, but, so you're not supporting what they do, what they're here sweating for, what we bleed for, what we die for. It just don't make sense to me." Staff Sergeant Manuel Sahagun directly took on the spin of war critics, complaining that "one thing I don't like is when people back home say they support the troops, but they don't support the war. If they're going to support us, support us all the way."

Schieffer Touts 'Hundreds of Thousands'
of Anti-War Protesters

     Though all other major news outlets, including his own network's Saturday evening newscast, pegged the number of people who attended Saturday's anti-Iraq war protest rally in Washington, DC as in the "tens of thousands," CBS's Bob Schieffer led Sunday's Face the Nation by endorsing the exaggerated attendance claims of self-interested organizers as he reminisced about the good old days of Vietnam protests. "Yesterday in Washington," he recalled, "was like a day from yesteryear -- the war that to many seems long ago and far away: the war in Vietnam. Yesterday, hundreds of thousands of people descended on the capital to protest the war in Iraq." Schieffer's opening of the January 28 Face the Nation segued into his lead interview with freshman Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia (Republican Senators Arlen Specter and Mitch McConnell were subsequent guests).

     [This item was posted Sunday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     "Thousands Protest Bush Policy," read the front page Washington Post headline over a story which reported: "Under a blue sky with a pale midday moon, tens of thousands of people angry about the war and other policies of the Bush administration danced, sang, shouted and chanted their opposition." See: www.washingtonpost.com

     Sunday's New York Times story began: "Tens of thousands of protesters converged on the National Mall on Saturday to oppose President Bush's plan for a troop increase in Iraq..." Deep in the article, Times reporter Ian Urbina relayed what may have been Schieffer's source for his wildly inflated claim: "Police officials declined to provide crowd estimates, but Hany Khalil, a spokesman for United for Peace and Justice, said the protesters numbered about 400,000." See: www.nytimes.com

     The AP's dispatch on the protest explained: "United for Peace and Justice, a coalition group sponsoring the protest, had hoped 100,000 would come. They claimed even more afterward, but police, who no longer give official estimates, said privately the crowd was smaller than 100,000." See: news.yahoo.com

     And if Schieffer didn't believe the Washington Post, New York Times or the AP, he certainly didn't show much respect for his CBS News Washington bureau colleague Joie Chen, who related on Saturday's CBS Evening News (for more, see item #2 below):
     "But for all the tie dye and familiar chants, the anti-war movement has moved on and changed direction. Today's protest didn't go near the White House, instead leading tens of thousands up Constitution Avenue to the Capitol, bearing a message for the new Congress, now controlled by Democrats."

Networks Deliver Sympathetic Portrait
of Anti-Iraq War Protests

     On Saturday evening, the broadcast networks highlighted the anti-Iraq War protests in Washington, D.C., and other cities. While ABC's World News Saturday drummed up the anti-war movement as "getting warmed up," displaying the words "Peace Surge" on-screen, the CBS Evening News focused on military families who are part of the movement, suggesting that such participants could provide "political cover" to Democrats who fear looking "unpatriotic" if they "stand up to the President." The NBC Nightly News led with the story, with correspondent John Yang relaying a Newsweek poll showing that 67 percent of Americans believe the President's Iraq policy is "based on his personal beliefs regardless of facts."

     [This item, by Brad Wilmouth, was posted Saturday night on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     On the CBS Evening News, after the lead story on the latest in computer chip technology, correspondent Joie Chen filed a report which put substantial focus on military families who support the anti-war movement, including a man with three sons in the military. Chen concluded her report: "Military families like Syverson's can provide important political cover on Capitol Hill here, especially for Democrats who are concerned about looking unpatriotic if they stand up to the President."

     ABC's World News Saturday ran its story somewhat later, plugging the possibility of a coming surge in the anti-war movement. Anchor Bill Weir introduced the story referring to protesters who are "newly energized in their struggle to end the war." Correspondent Laura Marquez relayed protest participant and actor Sean Penn's belief that the relative disinterest in protesting compared to the Vietnam War era may be "about to change." The ABC correspondent also discussed the possibility that the movement's "fund-raising machine could turn the tide." Marquez concluded: "And if today's crowds snaking up the streets to the Capitol are any indication, the anti-war movement may just be getting warmed up."

     Below are complete transcripts of the relevant stories from ABC's World News Saturday, the CBS Evening News, and the NBC Nightly News, from Saturday, January 27:

     # ABC's World News Saturday:

     Bill Weir: "That steady drumbeat of death was on the minds of demonstrators from Washington, D.C., to the West Coast today, protesters angry and frustrated over the war in Iraq and the President's call for more troops. As ABC's Laura Marquez reports, the people who marched today say they are newly energized in their struggle to end the war."

     Laura Marquez: "The tens of thousands of protesters who gathered on both coasts today spoke with a single voice: They want the U.S. out of Iraq."
     Clip of protesters: "Give peace a chance."
     Marquez: "This mother, who lost her son in Iraq, came with a message for other parents."
     Unidentified female protester: "I don't want you to go through the heartache that we go through."
     Sean Penn, actor: "-and the troops come home."
     Marquez: "Hollywood celebrities crowded the stage, including Jane Fonda, a controversial figure from the Vietnam anti-war movement."
     Jane Fonda, actress: "-but I'm so sad that we still have to do this, that we did not learn the lessons from the Vietnam War."
     Marquez: "There were bigger protests against Vietnam and more of them, but actor and activist Sean Penn believes that's about to change."
     Penn: "There are going to be more Americans taking to the streets. I think everything, you know, the truth is a stubborn thing, and it has stuck it out till now, and I think the egg shell is cracked open."
     Marquez: "Anti-war demonstrators want to take this protest from the streets to the halls of Congress. In just two weeks, they've raised $1.5 million to pressure lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, to oppose the President's plan to send more troops to Iraq. Although there were major anti-war demonstrations before the Iraq War began, public protest has been muted in recent years. Now, some believe this organized fund-raising machine could turn the tide."
     Allan Lichtman, American University: "The lobbying is the essential right cross that follows the left jab of the demonstrations."
     Clip of protesters chanting: "No more President, no more war!"
     Marquez: "And if today's crowds snaking up the streets to the Capitol are any indication, the anti-war movement may just be getting warmed up. Laura Marquez, ABC News, Washington."

     # CBS Evening News:

     Thalia Assuras: "The battle for Iraq took another heavy toll of American lives today as the debate over the war spilled out onto U.S. streets. The military today announced the death of seven more American soldiers in Iraq, bringing the total number of deaths to at least 3,075. Here at home, there were anti-war protests in Washington and other cities as well. Joie Chen is at the Capitol tonight. Joie?"

     Joie Chen: "Good evening, Thalia. Yeah, this was not the first, this was not the biggest protest of its type this city has seen. Still, organizers believe that it will have a significant impact, mostly because it tried to change the direction of the debate over the war by changing the direction of the protest. The surge of protesters pushed off, led by faces you might expect -- activist Jesse Jackson, actor Sean Penn, and Jane Fonda, who admitted she'd avoided this soap box since the days when she was called 'Hanoi Jane.'"
     Jane Fonda, actress: "-but I'm so sad that we still have to do this, that we did not learn the lessons from the Vietnam War."
     Chen: "But for all the tie dye and familiar chants, the anti-war movement has moved on and changed direction. Today's protest didn't go near the White House, instead leading tens of thousands up Constitution Avenue to the Capitol, bearing a message for the new Congress, now controlled by Democrats."
     Connie Gordon, anti-war demonstrator: "I think the Democrats are well aware that a lot of Democrats were elected this year over Republicans because of this issue."
     Unidentified female protester: "This has to stop. The only way they can do it is to cut off the money."
     Chen: "Energized by new signs of congressional resistance to the President's Iraq strategy and polls showing the public's increasing impatience, the protest actually began a day earlier with activists visiting lawmakers to press for an end to the war. They are determined to raise the profile of military families opposed to the war, keeping parents like Larry Syverson out front. He's a father of four sons, one retired military, three of them now on active duty."
     Larry Syverson, Military Families Speak Out: "Between the three of them they've been to Iraq five times."
     Chen: "Syverson's sons have written home to give their blessing and backing for their father's activism, even when fellow soldiers object."
     Syverson, reading his son's letter: "'I tell them that you have three sons in the military, and two of which are in Iraq. You can say or do whatever you want. You've earned it.'"
     Chen: "Today their faces were on his side and in his heart as he marched beneath the Capitol. They don't consider you disloyal to the troops?"
     Syverson: "Oh, no, not at all. They know that I love them, and they know that the best support I can give them as a father is to bring them home."
     Chen: "Military families like Syverson's can provide important political cover on Capitol Hill here, especially for Democrats who are concerned about looking unpatriotic if they stand up to the President, Thalia."
     Assuras: "Well, you said that the protesters didn't go by the White House, but did the President have a reaction today?"
     Chen: "Not much of one. A spokesman said that he understands that the American people want to see an end to the war, and he does believe that this is the course that will get us there."
     Assuras: "Joie Chen on Capitol Hill, thanks so much. Well, other cities held anti-war protests today. More than 1,000 protestors turned out in San Francisco, and several thousand marched in Los Angeles to an anti-war rally at the federal courthouse. Hundreds braved the cold to demonstrate in Albuquerque, New Mexico."

     # NBC Nightly News:

     John Seigenthaler: "Good evening, everyone. On a day when the U.S. military announced the deaths of seven more American troops in Iraq, there were protests in this country. Tens of thousands of Americans converged on Washington, D.C., demonstrating against the war in Iraq, urging the U.S. government to bring the troops home. The crowd gathered on the Washington mall joined by politicians and celebrities like Jane Fonda delivering a message that was clearly intended for the President. NBC's John Yang joins us tonight from the White House with the story. Good evening, John."

     John Yang: "John, President Bush has asked the American people to give his plan for Iraq a chance. But the people who marched in the streets in Washington and other cities today were in no mood to be patient."
     Unidentified female protester: "What do we want?"
     Crowd of protesters: "Peace!"
     Female protester: "When do we want it?"
     Crowd: "Now!"
     Yang: "The demonstrators' message: No more troops to Iraq and bring all the troops home."
     Unidentified male protester #1: "Power to the peaceful!"
     Yang: "It was aimed at both President Bush and the new Democratic majority in Congress."
     Unidentified male protester #2: "We were expecting more from them than nonbinding resolutions, which don't mean a hill of beans."
     Yang: "Only a handful of lawmakers appeared, among them Democrat John Conyers of Michigan."
     Rep. John Conyers (D-MI): "We stopped the war in Vietnam, didn't we?"
     Yang: "Veterans of the Iraq War spoke, as did veterans of protests past, such as Jane Fonda, her first appearance at an anti-war rally in 34 years."
     Jane Fonda, actress: "-and I'm so sad that we still have to do this, that we did not learn the lessons from the Vietnam War."
     Yang: "The demonstration came as a new Newsweek poll puts President Bush's job approval at 30 percent, a new low. And 67 percent of Americans now say the President's Iraq policy is based on his personal beliefs regardless of facts. No surprise that Mr. Bush spent the week trying to draw attention to his domestic agenda."
     Craig Crawford, NBC News political analyst: "He's trying to distract the Democratic Party from some of the things they want to do with Iraq by talking about a lot of their issues -- education, health care and those things."
     Yang: "But as he used his State of the Union Address to reach out to Democrats with domestic initiatives, Republican support for his troop buildup continues to show signs of fraying."
     Senator John Warner (R-VA): "I personally, speaking for myself, have great concern about the American GI being thrust into that situation."
     Yang: "Republican Senator John Warner, once a strong supporter of the war, introduced a resolution disagreeing with the policy while still supporting Mr. Bush."
     Crawford: "If what the President has proposed in Iraq does not make a difference soon, maybe within six months, a lot of these tepid supporters like Warner are gonna bolt."
     Yang: "For now Senator Warner is helping the White House, refusing to talk to Democrats about a single compromise resolution. As long as there's more than one resolution up for a vote, John, it's less likely that a big bipartisan majority will vote against Mr. Bush."

Washington Post Coverage of Anti-War
vs. Anti-Abortion Protests

     Within one week, the liberal bias of the Washington Post has been made perfectly obvious. On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters emerged on Washington for the March for Life, but the hometown paper put the story on the bottom of page A-10 Tuesday morning. On Saturday, tens of thousands of protesters emerged on Washington for a rally against President Bush and the war in Iraq. The Post blasted that story across the front page on Sunday, complete with a large color picture taking a wide shot of hundreds of marchers and their signs and banners. Tuesday's story on abortion protests matched carried no wide shot of hundreds. It showed four pro-life marchers, and matched them with another picture of five feminists counter-protesting. There were no photos of conservative counter-protesters in the Sunday paper.

     [This item, by Tim Graham, was posted Sunday on the MRC's blog, NewsBusters.org: newsbusters.org ]

     The Post not only let the anti-Iraq rally dominate the front page, but devoted an entire page (A-8) to more photos and a story on student protesters. The front-page story carried over to most of page A-9. Jane Fonda's appearance at the march drew another story, placed on the front page of the Style section.

     The lead story was headlined "Thousands Protest Bush Policy: As Senate Prepares to Debate Troop Increase, Demonstrators Demand War's End." Inside, the story carried the headline "Opposition to War Is Growing, Protesters Say." It could be said that an anti-abortion rally seems to have little impact, given liberal Democrats now lead both the House and Senate. But it could also be said that the surge of troops to Iraq is under way, and non-binding Senate or House resolutions aren't going to stop it.

     On the top of page A-8, the headline was "Thousands of Voices Send a Clear Message" over five color photos of protesters. At the bottom of the page was a story titled "Student Protesters, Fighting Image of Apathy, Call for a Cohesive Movement." Reporter Megan Greenwell even interviewed former Weather Underground member Mark Rudd, but didn't mention that what she called a "revolutionary group" were self-proclaimed communists who advocated the overthrow of the democratic government of the United States.

     The lead story by Michael Ruane and Frederick Kunkle had a very typical, even gooey beginning emphasizing the diversity of the marchers:
     "A raucous and colorful multitude of protesters, led by some of the aging activists of the past, staged a series of rallies and a march on the Capitol yesterday to demand that the United States end its war in Iraq.
     "Under a blue sky with a pale midday moon, tens of thousands of people angry about the war and other policies of the Bush administration danced, sang, shouted and chanted their opposition.
     "They came from across the country and across the activist spectrum, with a wide array of grievances. Many seemed to be under 30, but there were others who said they had been at the famed war protests of the 1960s and '70s."

     Inside, Ruane and Kunkel quoted Democratic leaders, but never asked if an inflamed anti-war movement could turn on Democrats or cause internal party divisions. They reported that a 10am rally sponsored by "the peace group CODEPINK" featured speeches by Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Maxine Waters, and Lynn Woolsey. Tom Daschle seemed to promise the protest size will only grow: "'Its primary value is that it keeps up the pressure,' said former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. 'There is a sense that by summer, a march like this will be two or three times as large.'"

     The Post duo did reproduce some of the Tim Robbins Bush-Is-Like-Hitler screed:

     "Robbins mocked President Bush, urging Congress to impeach him.
     "'Let's get him out of office before he's ruling from a bunker,' Robbins said.
     "'Impeach Bush!' the crowd began to chant, interspersed with a few shouts of 'And Cheney!'
     "'Richard Nixon talked to the walls,' Robbins continued. 'But George Bush is talking to God. But it is not a God I recognize. This God seems to be giving Bush a pass' on some commandments."

     The top of the front-page was a perfect lineup of Liberal News: the protest story was flanked on the left by "Vietnam Shades [Sen. John] Warner's Iraq Stand," and flanked on the right by "Clinton Begins Her Run In Earnest."

NBC Relays Frustrations of Soldiers Disturbed
by War Opposition

     A week after NBC News reporter Jane Arraf conceded that life in Iraq "isn't entirely what it seems" from the constant media focus on bombings, the Friday NBC Nightly News gave rare voice to soldiers in Iraq disturbed by criticism of the war back home. Embedded with the Army's Stryker Brigade's Apache Company (the Fort Lewis, Washington-based 1st Battalion of the 23rd Infantry Regiment) in Hurriya, Richard Engel relayed how "troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for. Twenty-one-year-old Specialist Tyler Johnson is on his first tour in Iraq. He thinks skeptics should come over and see what it's like firsthand before criticizing." Johnson asserted: "You may support or say we support the troops, but, so you're not supporting what they do, what they're here sweating for, what we bleed for, what we die for. It just don't make sense to me."

     Staff Sergeant Manuel Sahagun directly took on the spin of war critics, complaining that "one thing I don't like is when people back home say they support the troops, but they don't support the war. If they're going to support us, support us all the way." Engel soon powerfully concluded: "Apache Company has lost two soldiers, and now worries their country may be abandoning the mission they died for."

     A Tacoma News Tribune story on the Fort Lewis-based troops: www.thenewstribune.com

     [This item was posted Friday night, with video, on the MRC's blog. The audio/video will be added to the posted version of this CyberAlert. But in the meantime to listen to the MP3 audio, or to watch the Real or Windows Media video, go to: newsbusters.org ]

     The January 22 CyberAlert, with video, recounted:
     Back in the United States from Baghdad, NBC News correspondent Jane Arraf, who joined NBC last year after eight years with CNN, conceded that life in Iraq "isn't entirely what it seems" from the constant media focus on bombings. In studio with Brian Williams on Friday's NBC Nightly News, she acknowledged how journalists are "really good at getting across the relentless bombing and the violence, but it's really a lot harder for us to portray those spaces in between. I mean, for us, we live in the city. It's as secure as it can be, but we wake up to the sound of car bombs. We feel the mortars sometimes. And in a horrible, inevitable way, it becomes sort of like the weather, and it's kind of the same for Iraqis. Unless they're in the middle of it, life looks amazingly normal."
     Williams noted how "we get asked all the time....where's the good news we know is going on there?" Arraf conceded there's "a piece of good news that's out there every day that's really hard for us to get at," and that's how "there are children walking to school, there are girls and boys, there are Iraqi girls who are walking to school, and it's that wonderful sign of resilience that is the fabric, the background of life there." But, "to go out and do that story....we'd probably be putting those children in danger because that is the nature of television."

     To watch the video, go to: www.mrc.org

     The MRC's Brad Wilmouth corrected the closed-captioning against the video for the January 26 NBC Nightly News report from Iraq:

     Brian Williams: "Tonight we get to see American soldiers on the job in Iraq, and more important really we get to hear from them about all the talk about the war here at home. We get this view courtesy of our veteran Baghdad-based correspondent who is tonight embedded with U.S. forces as they prepare to be joined by a whole lot more U.S. forces. Here with our report, NBC's Richard Engel."

     Richard Engel: "When the Stryker Brigade's Apache Company headed out this morning, they had one mission: to find bases for the new U.S. troops coming in. There aren't a lot of safe options in Hurriya. This Baghdad neighborhood has been overrun by Shiite militias that have forced out nearly all of the Sunnis. The company also checks out an Iraqi army outpost, but it's just a trash-strewn soccer field exposed to snipers. And there's a bigger problem: The Iraqi soldiers aren't staying on guard duty."
     Unidentified soldier to an Iraqi soldier: "We came here to find you guys, and we came in here and no one was here."
     Engel: "It's not just the new mission the new soldiers are adjusting to. They have something else on their minds -- the growing debate at home about the war. Troops here say they are increasingly frustrated by American criticism of the war. Many take it personally, believing it is also criticism of what they've been fighting for. Twenty-one-year-old Specialist Tyler Johnson is on his first tour in Iraq. He thinks skeptics should come over and see what it's like firsthand before criticizing."
     Specialist Tyler Johnson: "-because people are dying. You know what I'm saying? You may support or say we support the troops, but, so you're not supporting what they do, what they're here sweating for, what we bleed for, what we die for. It just don't make sense to me."
     Engel: "Staff Sergeant Manuel Sahagun has served in Afghanistan, and is now on his second tour in Iraq. He says people back home can't have it both ways."
     Staff Sergeant Manuel Sahagun: "One thing I don't like is when people back home say they support the troops, but they don't support the war. If they're going to support us, support us all the way."
     Engel: "Specialist Peter Manna thinks people have forgotten the toll the war has taken."
     Specialist Peter Manna: "If they don't think we're doing a good job, everything that we've done here is all in vain."
     Engel: "Apache Company has lost two soldiers, and now worries their country may be abandoning the mission they died for. Richard Engel, NBC News, Baghdad."

-- Brent Baker

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