
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1991                   TAG: 9102130506
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CAL THOMAS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RESTRICTIONS BACKED/ PUBLIC LACKS TRUST IN WAR REPORTAGE

When ABC's "Good Morning America" wanted to find out what viewers thought of its Persian Gulf War coverage, it invited them to call in and express themselves. They did - and the network and the rest of the press establishment were shocked.

The question was, "Is the news media doing a responsible and fair job of covering the Gulf War?" Eighty-three percent of the 62,180 who responded said no.

The "Good Morning America" poll revealed sentiments similar to a more scientific poll, conducted by Times Mirror, that revealed nearly eight of 10 Americans support Pentagon restrictions on journalists covering the war.

Such ingrates. Don't people know that the news media are committed to bringing us the truth and omitting any editorializing in the pursuit of objectivity and fairness?

ABC's Judd Rose said so on the Jan. 24 "PrimeTime Live" when he told Diane Sawyer, " . . . while many people may think that we as reporters are whining and that this is a time of war, we are really the conveyors of truth in a very critical time and people need to know that truth."

But the public apparently doesn't believe the "conveyors of truth" part - as shown by the two polls cited above, by declining newspaper circulation and, with the exception of the war coverage, declining network TV ratings.

Here are just a few examples of what raises the public's ire and causes people to believe that so many in the press are out for themselves:

In the category of inaccuracies while trying to be first with the most exciting news, the winner is Dan Rather, CBS News, who said on Jan. 17: "Now the evidence, Bill [Plante], is that the Israelis are, as we speak, in the process of retaliating against the Iraqis for the six, at least six, Scuds that hit Israel . . . We'll try to keep you up to date on this story with the most accurate information possible."

The Israelis did not retaliate and Rather's numbers were incorrect.

ABC's Dean Reynolds inaccurately reported on Jan. 17: "Peter [Jennings], we are getting word from, again, a very reliable source that there may have been as many as 20 nerve-gas victims taken to a Tel Aviv area hospital this morning. This is the first word, the first hard word, of perhaps unconventional weapons used in this assault this evening."

There was no nerve-gas attack on Israel or anywhere else.

Some reporters have taken to issuing value judgments on the wisdom of the war and on those who oppose it. ABC's Rose said on the Jan. 24 "PrimeTime Live": "It may be painful, but it may be necessary to judge whether the price is worth paying."

On the Jan. 18 broadcast of ABC's "Nightline" on ABC, Jackie Judd interviewed one anti-war spokesperson after another in an attempt to breathe life into a movement that has been eclipsed by overwhelming support for the troops and the war effort. Numerous debatable statements went unchallenged, including those that claimed, "Almost every Christian denomination is on record as opposing the war," and, "Though a definite minority, [the peace movement] is more a cross-section of America."

Most of the public does not share Sam Donaldson's view that the press "reports what we find and see to the best of our ability." They are put off by Donaldson's next line: "If people don't like it, I'm sorry, but they really need to know what's happening."

They would, indeed, like to know what's happening. They just don't want the editorial spin put on it. Just give them the facts. And get them right. Most people are smart enough to draw their own conclusions. Los Angeles Times Syndicate

by CNB