N.C. newspaper's ridiculing of war opponents exposed in internal e-mail

[Newsjock]

An intriguing two-story package in this week's Independent Weekly reveals internal e-mail at the News & Observer in Raleigh-Durham, N.C. ...

http://indyweek.com/durham/2003-09-17/upfront.html

... It's important for people to know what's going on at the institutions they depend on to know what's going on. That's why we're including this week a series of E-mails to and from The News & Observer (where I used to work) and members of its community panel.

... They're meant to point out that The News & Observer, like virtually every other daily newspaper and television news operation in America, failed to emphasize the real story behind the invasion of Iraq (as Project Censored found), and did not take criticism to heart when confronted with it. It's a tragedy for so many reasons--first and foremost because if articles leading up to the war had been placed in the proper perspective, Americans might have realized that Iraq had nothing to do with Sept. 11 and everything to do with a radical turn in foreign policy. And it's a shame for otherwise good newspapers with the journalistic pretensions of The N&O, because if they'd broken from the pack and applied the same critical eye they use on local and regional news, they'd look like heroes today.

http://indyweek.com/durham/2003-09-17/cover2.html

Every month, a group of 20 or so members of the community meet at 8 a.m. in the second-floor conference room of The News & Observer as part of a community panel, a rotating group of residents selected by the newspaper to hear their thoughts about the newspaper. But a brouhaha broke out recently among some panel members regarding the paper's coverage of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

It started back in March when Stephen Dear, executive director of People of Faith Against the Death Penalty and a member of the panel, pulled out his laptop computer and read a statement to the group--and some of the newspaper's top editors, including Executive Editor Melanie Sill--condemning the newspaper's coverage of the runup to the invasion. It continued months later when members of the panel got wind of the newspaper's internal report on the meeting, written by reporter Lorenzo Perez. That report is designed to let the news staff know what the panel's members are saying.

Following is Dear's statement and the e-mail correspondence that followed.

more

[Sagan]

1. Powerful stuff...

*snip*

The N&O's war reporting is like something out of Dr. Strangelove. It's so bad, such over-the-top cheerleading, on something so grave that it's sickly funny. But in the end it is tragic. For its role in the war on Iraq, the N&O already has the blood of Iraqi children on its hands. The children of Iraq are real. Our bombs we are going to drop are real. When these children are blown apart in the next few days the editors and reporters responsible for amplifying the administration's drum beat should hang their heads in shame. What's the point of being in journalism if this is what you end up doing?

*snip*

[DogKing]

2. Article Was Difficult to Follow

I didn't get how this was anything more than a few people venting about content and the N&O placating them. I have to admit, I have never heard anyone complain that the N&O is too right leaning. As my home town paper, I find them pretty middle of the road and other than publishing the usual Conservative editorials (Will & Krauthammer, et. al) you would be hard pressed to convince me they deliberately participated in a cover up. Dear needs to get his tinfoil hat out.

[Upfront]

3. Welcome Brain Dead

What do we need to do, read slower? Try harder, you too may wake up!

[KoKo]

4. As a reader of the N&O, I still realize that it isn't as liberal as it's

critics in the triangle like to make it out to be. In fact, when it was sold to the McClatchy (sp?) group of newspapers around ten years ago it took a turn towards the more conservative. The Daniels (original owners) support many causes which could be viewed as liberal around Raleigh.....but liberal in Raleigh is very much different from liberal in NYC.

I will say that N&O was probably under pressure to support it's readership which includes many folks with ties to the military. Also, the Military provides a big source of income for NC and we have many folks who are flag wavers and many who are conservative Libaugh type nutcases. To appeal to everyone.....they would have to be much less liberal than "The Independent."

N&O also has many more liberal columnists and much more liberal cartoonists feeding in from the "big city" newpapers which help it keep a balance.

The reporters comments about those citizens on the panel the N&O requested comment from who were protesting about reporting leading up the the Iraq Invasion were really "below the belt." They were belittling to those who participated. And, I hope the N&O will take the recommendations of one of the panelists and not have a paid N&O reporter.....report on these citizen's panels. It should be an independent "Ombudsman" who will present comments not editorialize and personally portray participants aas "slumped in the chair."

(Thanks for this article......I missed my local "Independent" the last few weeks and so didn't see the article. Good scoop for them).