A search at the Associated Press's national site tonight on "Berlin Wall" (not in quotes) returns 14 stories.
Changing that search to "Berlin Wall Reagan" reduces that number to one. That single story is a short, seven-paragraph item about sections of the wall which are on display in different parts of the world. Reagan's name gets mentioned as follows:
One 8,000-pound piece has been placed outside the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. It was given to Reagan for his "unwavering dedication to humanitarianism and freedom over communism," famously expressed in his 1987 speech in Berlin, in which he called on Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall."
The AP's story about Gorbachev's 25th year anniversary statement is probably the most obvious failure to mention Reagan. Gorbachev is described as "The elder statesman, who kept Soviet troops stationed in East Germany in their barracks the night of Nov. 9, 1989."
Reagan's "tear down this wall" speech arguably influenced Gorabachev to keep the troops right where they were, and certainly provided encouragement to people yearning to be free throughout Eastern Europe:
Just ask Lech Walesa, the founder of the Solidarity movement that brought down Communism in Poland, how influential Reagan was in defeating Soviet communsim. Walesa says that Reagan "is responsible for our liberty."
After the Gorbachev story just noted, here are the 13 stories not mentioning Reagan (HT to frequent NewsBusters commenter Gary Hall):
Here are the first four paragraphs of the story about the European Parliament honoring George H.W. Bush:
Former President George H.W. Bush will receive an award from the European Parliament next week as part of events marking the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Bush, who was in office when the wall was toppled in 1989, will become the first American to receive the Robert Schuman Medal during a ceremony Monday at his presidential library at Texas A&M University.
The school says the award marks the 90-year-old former U.S. president's commitment to a secure, peaceful Europe.
The award was established in 1986, to recognize leaders who have advanced the cause of peace and human values. Other recipients have included Pope John Paul II.
Reagan, who, with the possible exception of John Paul, did more to "advance the cause of peace and human values" than any of the other winners, is not among has not received the prize — nor has Walesa or the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
A video at AOL at another location of an AP story with four participants did not mention Reagan's name once, and gave credit for the wall's ulimate fall to Gorbachev, because he is the one who made it clear that the Soviet Union wouldn't send troops into Iron Curtain countries to quell uprisings. Uh, guys — Why do you think that was the case? The video's participants also made sure to tell viewers that the wall's fall shouldn't be seen as a victory of capitalism over communism, because, after all, capitalism has serious problems of its own.
Another complete AP omission relates to U.S. President John F. Kennedy, who visited Berlin in June 1963. According to the BBC's remembrance of that visit:
(his) speech was seen as a turning point in the Cold War.
It was a major morale booster for West Germans, alarmed by the recently-built Berlin Wall.
It also gave a strongly defiant message to the Soviet Union and effectively put paid to Moscow's hopes of driving the Allies out of West Berlin.
I wish I could say I am surprised at these coverage failures, but I'm not. The lazy argument about Soviet communism taught at universities since its fall is usually that "it collapsed of its own weight," and that it would have failed with or without Reagan. Of course, none of these ivory tower socialist reality deniers can explain why similar if not worse social and economic conditions haven't led to the fall of Cuba or North Korea.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
