CNN decided to not to break away from its almost non-stop coverage of the California wildfires as President Bush formally awarded a Navy SEAL killed in Afghanistan the Medal of Honor, as its competitors Fox News and MSNBC aired the ceremony at the White House live.
The Medal of Honor went to Lt. Michael Murphy of Patchogue, New York, who died in the line of duty in 2005 during operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan. Murphy received the first Medal of Honor awarded from Operation Enduring Freedom. President Bush made the decision to give Lt. Murphy the nation’s highest military honor on October 11.
The ceremony started at 2:23 pm Eastern, and both of CNN’s rivals carried President Bush’s remarks, as well as the presentation of the medal to the deceased SEAL’s parents. It wasn’t until 2:43 pm Eastern, eight minutes after its rival networks concluded its live coverage of the award ceremony, that CNN aired a 3-minute long segment featuring some of President Bush’s remarks and a story by CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr on the 2005 battle in which Lt. Murphy was killed.
Earlier this month, there were other prominent mainstream media omissions of this story. After the October 11 announcement of the award, every major New York newspaper published stories on the citation except the New York Times. It took until October 16 for any of the ‘Big Three’ network news broadcasts to recognize Lt. Murphy.
Update 22:31 | Matthew Sheffield. Wizbang has the video of the ceremony. Ace calls out the media's hypocrisy in calling Afghanistan the "forgotten war" while they are the ones doing the forgetting.
—Matthew Balan is a news analyst at the Media Research Center.
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Darn! I missed this. Any
October 22, 2007 - 14:31 ET by drillanwrDarn! I missed this.
Any chance a link might available to the video?
drill... I am sure there
October 22, 2007 - 14:36 ET by bigtimerdrill...
I am sure there will be links to it...I missed it also.
I do know that if this was in the WH this will be replayed on C-SPAN most likely more than once....plus they will have a link somewhere on their site too.
Finding one now on
October 22, 2007 - 15:57 ET by drillanwrFinding one now on FoxNews.com ...
http://www.foxnews.com/video2/play...
Ah, sorry .. The link is to Fox's story about Lt. Michael Murphy, and NOT today's medal ceremony.
CNN...Communist News
October 22, 2007 - 14:34 ET by bigtimerCNN...Communist News Network or Clintoon News Network, either one is the same difference....they are just disgraceful....period.
Miracle msnbc covered the ceremony...must of slipped up.
God Bless Lt. Michael Murphy and his family and all the military past and present.
Evidence
October 22, 2007 - 14:36 ET by Jerry MackMore evidence that "We support the troops, but not the war" is B.S.
I'm glad FoxNews finally
October 22, 2007 - 14:41 ET by Chris NormanI'm glad FoxNews finally broke away from the S Cal fires to report something like this. I've noticed that on Sundays, especially, Fox has a tendency to go wall to wall coverage on a single event - even if it's the same pictures and information, over and over again.
GMA
October 22, 2007 - 14:39 ET by SarahAnnieI usually watch Good Morning America in the mornings (no cable), but sometimes I miss a bit when I put on a video for the daughter. I might have missed GMA saying anything about Lt. Murphy being a posthumous recipient of the Medal of Honor. But seeing as how today was the ceremony, I was anxious to see if Diane or Chris would report it. The answer is NO. They had a little blurb on the bottom of the screen about it. And instead of devoting a fraction of their reporting time for this monumentous occasion, I saw a model fall through a hole in a catwalk, some aging hippie in HI, and a doggie fashion show. I emailed to express my disgust with their 'journalism'.
Nebraskans for War: Peace through Strength
Normally,
October 22, 2007 - 14:44 ET by ChaitealoverNormally, I would agree that CNN was wrong, but this time my perspective is different because I'm one of the 250,000 San Diegans that have been evacuated due to the fires and the accompanying smoke that is running down the canyons all the way to the ocean. Yes, our local stations are doing wall-to-wall coverage, but many of us here have friends/family in LA and Orange County & want all the information we can get about their safety, too.
"Our people have shed more blood for the liberty and freedom of other peoples...than all the other countries put together. And I don't feel any need to apologize for the United States of America" - Fred Thompson
I agree. I'm in San Diego
October 23, 2007 - 11:28 ET by greenfairieI agree. I'm in San Diego County. While the fires are not near me, this is a massive disaster for one of the most populous regions in the country. 300,000 people have been evacuated all over Southern CA. I'd expect to see wall-to-wall coverage if something on this scale was happening elsewhere. It's too bad this story got overshadowed by events but that's the news cycle for you.
Methinks CNN would have
October 22, 2007 - 14:55 ET by kevcadMethinks CNN would have definitely carried it live back in the Clinton years.
Start each day with a smile, then get it over with. - W.C. Fields
CNN just following the NY
October 22, 2007 - 15:14 ET by jwm45CNN just following the NY Times' template - they put the story in their New York Regional Section not the World or US Section - in other words it's just a local story. They both are awful. Pandering to their anti-military audiences
New legislation introduced
October 22, 2007 - 18:36 ET by BacchusA Senate bill defunding Rescue Services has been introduced, including a timetable for redeployment of all firefighters from San Diego to a safe base in Okinawa. The Senate majority leader Harry Reid had this to say, "I believe, this fire in San Diego is lost."
NYTimes: America has no business getting mixed up in a civic disaster. It's the San Diegans fire, not ours.
Bush Lied - People Fried.
--
R.I.P., Lt. Murphy.
I support the firefighters,
October 22, 2007 - 18:40 ET by MikeBI support the firefighters, but not their mission. We need to de-fund the San Diego Fire Department immediately.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Even crazier, I heard the
October 22, 2007 - 16:46 ET by DaBirdEven crazier, I heard the morning CNN anchor John Roberts ask the question (paraphrasing): "Does global warming have anything to do with these wildfires?" CNN as a whole needs a visit to the little padded-room at the hospital.
He could be onto something.
October 22, 2007 - 17:34 ET by GregEHe could be onto something. Wildfires have never happened before ya know. Way to ask the right questions Johnny!
Hurricane substitute
October 22, 2007 - 17:53 ET by nkviking75Other than local media in the affected area, there is no reason to go wall to wall with this stuff. While I don't mean to seem callous to the people of Southern California, for most of the country there is usually far more pressing business than the disaster du jour. It's a major story, to be sure, but second by second coverage doesn't add much to our knowledge. I guess CNN is expending the energy it would usually lavish on a hurricane.
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Well, NK
October 22, 2007 - 18:50 ET by BlondeIt was kind of a disappointing season for the media....a total lack of hurricane scare-mongering, spelling imminent disaster to the people of Florida, the Gulf, and the Carolinas (Texas too) were, um, missing....no joy for the warmers.
However, as someone who lives in the hurricane zone, I find these fires to be far scarier than a hurricane.
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Southern California who are in the way of this force of nature. And I sincerely hope they take the evacuation warnings seriously. I can't imagine the chaos these fires must be causing.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
I'm right in the middle of the fire storm...
October 22, 2007 - 19:52 ET by rx4musicLocal news stations (San Diego County) have a very good handle on what is going on right now. There shouldn't be any reason to pre-empt a story like that of Michael Murphy and his MOH. The've got plenty of time to tell the story about the fires afterwards... Even with all this going on around me I'd rather see the national media cover the troops. For a while there seemed nothing on TV except stories about Malibu and "millionaire acres". We are finally getting lots of local coverage. Just for the record, the town next door to us (Ramona, CA) was evacuated last night (about 36,000 people). About half of my little town has been forced to evacuate. We've lost about 60 homes here with many more in the county totally lost. So far, a total of about 250,000 people have been forced to leave their homes. This is the first time I've had to check in with what's going on elsewhere in the world... I'm going to get back to watching the local stuff. If there's anyone else going through the same thing, please be safe. We're fine and ready to bug out in a moment's notice. Pray for those who've lost everything. They could use it. Talk to you folks later.
Rx
RX
October 22, 2007 - 19:56 ET bygood to hear you are okay, my sister has come to stay for the duration. I am just above the 78 on the evacuee map here. I've been very fortunate.
"The more I study science, the more I believe in God." Einstein
Yunz stay safe ...
October 22, 2007 - 19:58 ET by drillanwrYunz stay safe ...
drill... Are you sure
October 22, 2007 - 20:01 ET by Clear thinkerdrill...
Are you sure your not from the mountains of NC?
This is the only place I ever heard anyone use "yunz".
Get Email updates from Fred http://socialnet.imwithfred.com/email_alert_july_26.html
Nope ... NE Ohio close to
October 22, 2007 - 20:34 ET by drillanwrNope ... NE Ohio close to the PA. line ...
I was thinking of you botg...
October 22, 2007 - 20:15 ET by rx4musicI saw the stuff in SM and knew you were near there. I have many friends up in that area. I am just to the left of the arrow in that map you linked. Just barely above the mandatory evac line. We went though the Cedar Fire 4 years ago which went within a 1/2 mile. Luckily a lot of the fuel in the hills burnt then and it hasn't grown back as thick as it was then. But, I don't think the winds then were as bad as they are now. They have calmed for a while, but, may pick up again like they did last night. I'm running on caffeine and about 1 and 1/2 hours of sleep. (And a healthy dose of adrenaline!) Stay safe wherever you are. I'll be checking back here from time to time. It's nice that you can stay logged in without timing out. (Thanks Matt!) I need the diversion! Bye for now...
r4
October 22, 2007 - 20:02 ET by BlondeEvacuations aren't a thing to mess around with.
If you have to go...you must.
Please, stay safe...and get back to us when you can.
Thoughts & prayers to you, my friend.
Be safe.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Hear, hear! Y'all keep
October 22, 2007 - 20:19 ET by MikeBHear, hear!
Y'all keep safe, then join us when you can. All of us here hope you come through this okay, preferably with all your property intact. Good luck, people.
"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan
Thanks Blonde...
October 22, 2007 - 20:20 ET by rx4musicAll my instruments are staged by the front door and my truck is gassed and ready to haul @ss. This is the 3rd big fire I've been through and I know you don't mess with Mother Nature ;-) I do appreciate your concern. C'yall..
This is supposed to be an
October 23, 2007 - 00:19 ET by mgerardnThis is supposed to be an example of liberal bias?? First of all, one of the bigger complaints on this site is that there is too much news coverage of death and violence in Iraq. Every news story that highlights casualties in Iraq is a story about heroes. Yet, when George W Bush is in the story to honor one of the fallen, suddenly this is important to be put up front and center. More than a quarter of a million evacuating a major metropolitan city is huge, huge news - as fire chiefs across California are saying it's the worst fire they've ever seen in their lifetime. And CNN did cover this story, albeit after the fact. You guys have some examples on this site of liberal bias, you shouldn't push those down the list by lending credence to this.