“Who was fair and balanced after Pres. Bush’s speech?” asked Bill O’Reilly at FoxNews. He answered the question for the U.S. media – and summarized, that some were fair and others weren’t. No clear picture emerged. It looked like a tie between fair and unfair reporting, something you would expect in a situation such as in Iraq where outcomes of military decisions are hard to predict.
As to the German media, unfair reporting on President Bush’s speech wins hands down.
- SPIEGEL: “Disaster…Bush completely isolated, like Nixon at the end…”
- Stern: “Bush decided against advice of many military experts…Bush didn’t understand discussion of last months…imprisoned in the labyrinth of his absolute truths…”
- Sueddeutsche Zeitung: “Bush helpless…sad and unsuccessful one-man-show…his biggest mistake: relying on military means rather than on political initiatives…”
- tagesschau: (in an interview with tageschau correspondent Patrick Leclercq) “Nothing will change for Iraqis…all reactions from the Iraqi street are negative…people have no hope regarding the role of Americans…”
- heute (ZDF): “Leading republicans against additional troops…Senator Chuck Hagel: “worst blunder since Vietnam”…Bush loses respect of republicans…”
(BTW, the Chuck Hagel quote regularly pops up in the German media’s reporting – as proof for a loss of confidence in President Bush “even among Republicans”. No mention is made of Hagel’s long-time anti-Bush positions (1, 2, 3) or of Lieberman’s critique of Hagel’s remarks.)
There were few fair comments:
- FAZ: “Additional U.S. troops mean more targets for insurgents and terrorists…but they are needed to safeguard against a complete victory for terrorism…”
- Focus: “Bush doesn’t believe in a Blitz success”
I cannot possibly describe or accurately translate the venomous, polemic tendencies in the reporting on Bush’s speech in many German media outlets. Sure, serious political analysis has never been a major feature of German journalism – but the Bush Derangement Syndrome has apparently forced the system to new lows.
