US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

CNN disregards Iraq Study Group, slants Pelosi's trip to Syria

Slant Index: 5.71 (vote)

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CNN's reporting on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's planned visit to Syria was heavily slanted in favor of the Bush Administration and against against Pelosi. Instead of properly reporting on Pelosi's trip, CNN went out of its way to spin the trip from the Bush Administration's perspective. The article contained several quotations from Administration officials critical of the trip and only one, near the end, from Pelosi's office.

The article was CNN's top story on the evening of March 30th, 2007 and started off citing White House criticism. It then provided some background information on Syria in a section that backed the Administration's stance. However, this section contained nothing related to Pelosi's rationale for the visit: to follow a recommendation of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which called for dialogue with Syria.

From CNN's background section: "The United States has accused Syria of aiding the Sunni insurgency in western Iraq with weapons and fighters. Syria also is accused of supporting the militant extremist groups Hezbollah, a Shiite political party and militia, and Hamas."

This information makes Pelosi's trip seem ill advised, just as the Administration believes. But in fact, the Iraq Study Group report concluded that trips like Pelosi's are actually well advised and are among many crucial steps necessary to bringing peace and stability to the Middle East.

The Iraq Study Group report was cited in the article, but only near the end, in the single paragraph that quoted Pelosi's spokesperson. CNN provided no follow up information on the Study Group's report or its significance.

The BBC realized the significance of the report and included the following in its article on the same subject.

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"There have been recent calls in the US to engage, rather than isolate Syria.

Earlier this year, a bipartisan US commission recommended the Bush administration launch diplomatic initiatives with both Syria and Iran - something President Bush has refused to do."
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