CNN
Fri, Jul 18th 2008, 12:09
Take a look at
this article. Yes, the hard-hitting journalism that is CNN has come up with a winner here. Using the ever-present boogyman that is Al Qaeda, CNN has come up with a great attention grabbing story. "Al Qaeda-linked suspect may have targeted Bush." This is beyond irresponsible journalism and I'm going to tell you why.
Back in January, a 24 year old student took video of an Israeli helipad that was reserved for senior officials. CNN is sure to point out that Bush used this helipad at some point in the past. Then, said student went to an "Internet forum identified with al Qaeda" and asked about the "possibility" of attacking an aircraft with Bush on it. CNN then points out that this student, along with 5 others, were arrested. It provides the following justification: "The suspects used the Internet to go to radical Islamic Web sites, including some identified with al Qaeda".
If you haven't realized it yet, there is nothing even close to proof that the al Qaeda we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan had anything to do with these people and CNN fails to mention this. So the issue isn't that CNN reported this story, the issue is
how it was reported. It is making connections to things that aren't connected. How can they say "Al Qaeda-linked suspect" in the title when the only link is that this person visited websites "identified with al Qaeda"? Is this a grand conspiracy by al Qaeda to take out Bush? Or is it one pissed off individual posting some outrageous ideas on an internet forum?
This is the same tactic they used to get Americans to identify Saddam Hussein with 9/11, the repetition of names and associations, the flagrant disregard for critical thinking, and the use of sensationalist headlines that all add up and contribute to the general ignorance that is bovine America.
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