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"If the Media Reported California News Like They Report News From Iraq
Written by Richard Geno
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Source Chronwatch.com

The liberal media bias has been successful at undermining American efforts in Iraq in an effort to destroy the presidency of George W. Bush. The net effect has been to place the citizens of the United States in great jeopardy. The objectivity that journalists once advocated has in recent years been discarded in exchange for promoting those stories that support their liberal agenda.

While any death is always tragic, people die in wars. That is why presidents and governments avoid going to war at all costs. That was true of President Bush as it relates to the war in Iraq. He waited a full six months after Congress gave its approval. Inevitably, when a western country goes to war, it waits too long. These delays cost many lives. It was true during World War II. In the case of the period between September, 2002 and March, 2003, there is significant speculation that weapons of mass destruction were moved to Syria during that timespan.

Loss of life is a personal tragedy for the persons involved and their families. Between the beginning of the Iraq invasion until the summer of 2006, the media gave a person-by-person accounting of the American military death toll in Iraq. They did it because they did not support the operations in Iraq, and because it was an effective tool in turning the people against the Vietnam War a quarter of a century earlier.

More Americans died on the beaches of Normandy in one day than have died in Iraq in almost four years. The newspapers, mainstream televison news, and news magazines do not report the progress the United States makes in Iraq, but only the casualty count. There is no justification for this type of reporting other than to make a political point.

Journalists do not report the news of California the way they do the news from Iraq. Before making my analogy, I feel that I should say that I am a Californian. My parents were both born in California. Three out of four of my grandparents were born in California, and a few of my great-grandparents were born in California. I love California; however, what if the news media reported facts about California the way they report on Iraq?

Imagine what the outlook towards California would be around the United States and the world if the press reported accurately as follows:

Day 1 Headlines: 15 MURDERS OVER THE WEEKEND
Day 2 Headlines: 360 ASSAULTS YESTERDAY IN CALIFORNIA; 6 MORE MURDERS
Day 3 Headlines: OVER 16,000 VIOLENT ASSAULTS AND ROBBERIES IN NOVEMBER; NO END IN SIGHT
Day 4 Headlines: RAPES REPORTED IN CALIFORNIA FOR OCTOBER UPDATED TO OVER 800
Day 5 Headlines: ANOTHER $600 MILLION SPENT LAST MONTH TO HOUSE CALIFONIA CRIMINALS
Day 6 Headlines: FOR 30th MONTH IN A ROW, OVER 330 CALIFORNIANS KILLED ON HIGHWAYS
Day 7 Special Report: CALIFORNIA HAS HIGHER INMATE POPULATION THAN GERMANY,
FRANCE, THE NETHERLANDS, AND SINGAPORE COMBINED.

Believe me, this type of accurate reporting could go on day after day. Every year, over 4,000 Californians die in car accidents--approximately six times the average death rate of military personnel in Iraq. And, California technically is not a war-zone. The media asks the question why our military cannot stop the infiltration of insurgents from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Syria into the Iraq theater. Yet, between 3-5 million foreigners have sneaked into California illegally in recent years.

Another potential headline: ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN STATE COMPRISE POPULATION LARGER THAN SAN FRANCISCO, SAN DIEGO, SAN JOSE, AND SACRAMENTO COMBINED.

California's population is only 34% higher than Iraq; and every one of the statistics used in these sample headlines are accurate. What would be the impression of California if this was the day-in-and-day-out reporting we heard? Due to the liberal bias of the mainstream media, an unfair picture of Iraq has been painted. And the biased reporting of the news impacts all of us. "

About the Writer: Richard Geno has a bachelor's degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and also has a master's degree and a Ph.D.  ....." 

http://www.chronwatch.com/content/contentDisplay.asp?aid=25690