AP and CNN Distort the nature of the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” and Recess Appointment

[ProgressiveAmPatriot]

Link to Original: http://progressiveamericanpatriot.blogspot.com/2007/04/associated-press-and-cnn-distort-nature.html

Associated Press and CNN Distort the Nature of the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” and the Swift Boat Recess Appointment
By A Progressive American Patriot at the http://progressiveamericanpatriot.blogspot.com/">Progressive American Patriot blog

Today, President Bush appointed Sam Fox ambassador to Belgium. Although appointing an ambassador to Belgium is typically uncontroversial, the President’s methods and nominee is. As ABC News correctly reported, Fox “contributed $50,000 to the slanderous Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which used a series of television ads to undermine Kerry's combat record.” Contrast this with what the Associated Press and CNN both had to say:

“Democrats had denounced Fox for his 2004 donation to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. The group's TV ads, which claimed that Sen. John Kerry exaggerated his military record in Vietnam, were viewed as a major factor in the Massachusetts Democrat's losing the election.”

First I would like to congratulate the AP and CNN for their journalistic initiative; it’s getting harder and harder to find ethical investigative journalists who do not copy entire paragraphs from each other’s work. Moving on to more serious business though, both articles cast Democratic opposition to Fox as a purely political, perhaps petty thing. The reader of the article is left to wonder if Democrats simply oppose Fox because he bankrolled a successful ad campaign. Neither source explains, as ABC News correctly reported, that the group was extremely slanderous. Failing to offer the context and content of Democratic opposition to Fox, the AP and CNN leave the reader to conclude that it is simply partisan politics as usual. This, however, is hardly partisan politics as usual.

Both the AP and CNN fail to explain why Democrats view this recess appointment as a violation of the Senate’s power of advice and consent. Both sources report that Bush had previously withdrawn the nomination because he lacked the votes to get Fox approved, but neither questions Bush’s tactics or quotes a Democrat doing so. Again, everything in the story is technically accurate, but the substance is missing. ABC News quotes John Kerry’s former comrades as saying, “In our judgment, those who finance smears and lies of combat veterans don't deserve to represent America on the world stage.” It also quotes Senator Dodd as addressing the issue of a recess appointment which the President new did not have the votes. As Senator Dodd put it:

"It is outrageous that the president has sought to stealthily appoint Sam Fox to the position of ambassador to Belgium when the president formally requested that the Fox nomination be withdrawn from the Senate because it was facing certain defeat in the Foreign Relations Committee last week."

Unfortunately, the AP and CNN offered no such context or Democratic response. I do not think that they did this intentionally, but it does distort the nature of the “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” and the Swift Boat Recess Appointment. Journalists have an obligation to give readers the proper context of a story. Judging by their near identical articles (and identical paragraph) it would seem that the AP and CNN could have made a greater effort to accurately portray this story. In other words, stop being lazy!

[ProgressiveAmPatriot]

1. Update

The AP has updated its story. They now offer Democratic quotes, but still distort the nature of “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth.” You can take a look here. Note that the link to the original AP story still functions.
-A Progressive American Patriot
P.S. In posting this I realized that the original hyperlinks did not transfer when I pasted it in. I am new at this. I can no longer edit my original post so if you would like to see these links check out the story on my blog: http://progressiveamericanpatriot.blogspot.com/2007/04/associated-press-and-cnn-distort-nature.html