PRESS PATTERNS
The MSM and Yesterday's Iraq Vote [Stephen Spruiell]
The MSM say: "GOP Stalls Debate on Troop Increase." But conservative bloggers are arguing, "In what language does 'voted against cloture' translate into 'stalls debate'?"
So who's right? Both, actually. If you look at what the conservative blogs are saying, you'll notice that the focus is on the headlines — all of which read something like "Republicans Block Debate on Iraq Policy," and all of which paint a highly misleading picture of what happened yesterday.
But the reporters who wrote the stories got it right. The Senate Republican Conference just issued a press release urging people to read the coverage closely. What a close reading reveals is that the GOP did prevent the debate from moving forward — but only because the Democrats wanted to narrowly tailor the debate so as not to allow the consideration of a more popular resolution:
“One of those alternatives, by Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, would declare that Congress should not cut off any funds for forces in the field. That vote was seen as problematic for Democrats because many of them opposed any move to curtail spending, raising the prospect that it could have attracted the broadest support in the Senate.” New York Times, “G.O.P. Senators Block Debate on Iraq Policy,” February 6, 2007.
“Both Democrats and Republicans believe the only measure that could attract 60 votes is Gregg's, because Democrats would fear the political ramifications of appearing to take action that might harm troops in battle.” Washington Post, “Republicans block debate on Iraq policy, Gregg's proposal is at heart of impasse,” Feb. 6, 2007.
“The two political parties were at odds Monday after Democrats refused to give equal consideration during the debate to a Republican proposal by Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., which would protect funding for troops in combat. While Democrats are largely supportive of the Gregg measure, they want to limit debate to only two proposals: one by Sen. John Warner, R-Va., that states opposition to the troop buildup, and another by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would support the president's position.” Associated Press, “Dems, Senate Debate on Iraq Inevitable,” Feb. 6, 2007.
And so on. What we have here is a case of stories that accurately conveyed what happened vs. editors who filtered those stories through their own bias against Republicans.
UPDATE: More here.
02/06 11:39 AM
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