NP?

[Doug Millison]

                      FAIR-L
                    Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting
               Media analysis, critiques and news reports



ACTION ALERT: HOW MANY DEAD?
Major networks aren't counting

December 12, 2001

How many civilians have been killed in Afghanistan since the start of
U.S.-led bombing on October 7? Journalists and aid workers have limited
access to the area, so it's an admittedly difficult question to answer. But
many U.S. media outlets don't seem to be trying very hard.

None of the three major networks' nightly newscasts are offering even rough
tallies of the mounting civilian casualties in Afghanistan. ABC World News
Tonight, however, has followed the story somewhat more seriously than either
the CBS Evening News or NBC Nightly News, which both regularly frame
discussion of civilian deaths in terms of their value in the "propaganda
war." Questions about the legality of those U.S. targeting decisions that
led to strikes on civilians were rarely raised on any network.

It may be some time before a full accounting is possible, but relief
agencies and a few noteworthy news stories do provide information about the
scale of the devastation. As a "conservative" estimate, Doctors Without
Borders has stated that civilian casualties are already in the hundreds and
rising (NPR, 12/6/01). On the high end, a compilation of international press
reports by a University of New Hampshire professor suggests there may be
over 3,500 civilian deaths
(http://www.cursor.org/stories/civilian_deaths.htm ).

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have voiced strong concern
about the loss of civilian life, and have both independently called for a
moratorium on the use of cluster bombs. Though it was not widely reported in
the U.S. press-- and not at all on ABC, CBS or NBC-- Amnesty has also
demanded "an immediate and full investigation into what may have been
violations of international and humanitarian law such as direct attacks on
civilian objects or indiscriminate attacks" by the U.S. military (press
release, 10/26/01).

Some in the U.S. media, however, have suggested that Afghans don't mind
being killed by U.S. bombs. "It turns out many of those Afghan 'civilians'
were praying for another dose of B- 52's to liberate them from the Taliban,
casualties or not" wrote foreign affairs commentator Thomas Friedman (New
York Times, 11/23/01).

Even some of the more extensive U.S. reporting on civilian casualties--
which came last week, after U.S. bombing near Tora Bora destroyed two
villages and killed over 100 civilians-- seemed surprised at Afghans'
negative response. CBS's Randall Pinkston reported that "at least 100
people" had been killed, but claimed that until recently, "many Afghans"
were "raising few objections to civilians accidentally killed in U.S.
bombing attacks." He noted that the killings had provoked criticism of
American policy, and called this "a troubling new reaction" (CBS Evening
News, 12/1/01).

One forthright story on the killings near Tora Bora, by NBC correspondent
Mike Taibbi (12/3/01), stood in marked contrast not only to the general
trend in reporting on other networks, but to NBC's previous coverage of
civilian casualties as well. Taibbi investigated the destroyed villages in
person, juxtaposing his findings-- which included a fragment of a U.S.
missile, serial number intact-- with the Pentagon's claim that it was
unlikely the incident had occurred.

Unfortunately, this kind of independent approach was the exception rather
than the rule on the nightly news shows. Claims that Afghan civilians had
been killed were often reported as unsubstantial, utterly unverifiable
salvos in the so-called "propaganda war." One report by CBS's David Martin
(10/23/01) claimed that the Taliban's "chief weapon seems to be pictures
they say are innocent civilians killed or injured by the bombing." Martin
went on to say that the Pentagon admits to "a few instances of bombs hitting
civilians," but made no mention of any estimates, from the Pentagon or
elsewhere, of the actual number of people killed.

This pattern was repeated several times on the CBS Evening News. A November
6 CBS report stated that George Bush had "opened a new public relations
front in the war on terrorism" because "claims of heavy civilian casualties
have provoked howls of protest" in Muslim countries. No mention was made of
whether such claims were factual, or, as the belittling "howl" might
suggest, merely a PR ploy. The next day, CBS again returned to the Taliban
"propaganda machine," with David Martin reporting that "usually it airs
claims of civilian casualties by American bombing." Again, no mention was
made of whether, where or how many civilians had actually been killed.

A few weeks earlier (10/18/01), Martin filed a report showing images of dead
civilians, but included no information about the people-- except that they
were complicating the U.S. anti-terrorism campaign. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld "says the determination to avoid scenes like these of civilians
apparently killed by American bombs makes the terrorist hunt more
difficult," reported Martin.

NBC Nightly News also tended to present reports of the U.S. military killing
civilians as primarily a propaganda issue. In a report (11/4/01) about
America's battle "to protect its image as a compassionate nation," NBC
correspondent Dan Lothian gave a thumbnail sketch of "the war on terrorism
as reported in the Arab world." With no apparent sense of irony, Lothian
catalogued the Arab media's propaganda: "Daily doses of news concerning
civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Graphic pictures below front page
headlines. Compelling stories on cable TV, as well." Daily news, graphic
pictures and compelling stories-- a threatening arsenal indeed.

"The first casualties of this war were thousands of American civilians,"
said Lothian in his wrap-up. "Now, as the Taliban is targeted for protecting
the terrorists of Al-Qaeda, the U.S. is also fighting a public relations
war." It's a difficult passage to parse, but the meaning seems to be that
first, American civilians were attacked by terrorists, and now, the United
States' image is being attacked with equal mercilessness.

NBC's most persistent advocate of the propaganda perspective, however, was
Pentagon correspondent Jim Miklaszewski, who several times portrayed reports
of Afghan civilian casualties as an assault on the U.S. Despite the U.S.
military's "overwhelming firepower," reported Miklaszewski (10/15/01), "the
Pentagon is on the defensive today." Why? Because "the Taliban took foreign
journalists on a guided tour of the village of Karam, where they claim US
bombs killed 200 civilians." Later, the Pentagon was still "fighting the
propaganda war" by "denying Taliban claims that American bombs have killed
more than 1,000 innocent civilians" (10/24/01). The report did not
investigate what a more accurate figure might be, or whether any civilians
had been killed at all.

A few days later (10/29/01), Miklaszewski again had the Pentagon "on the
defensive" against "charges that American bombs are killing hundreds of
civilians," noting that "Rumsfeld says the ultimate blame lies with those
who started the war." Despite Rumsfeld's implicit acknowledgement that some
civilians-- perhaps hundreds-- had been killed, NBC again failed to ask how
many, where or why.

In comparison to CBS and NBC's poor performances, ABC World News Tonight did
somewhat better at reporting specific numbers and locations of instances
when U.S. bombs hit civilians. Reporter David Wright devoted attention to
civilian casualties as an issue in their own right, noting, for example,
that "even when the target's the front line, the trouble is, people live
here" (10/28/01). ABC has not, however, focused on the important questions
raised by groups like Amnesty International about the legality of U.S.
strikes.

When media portray reports of civilian casualties as an attack on America,
it's hardly surprising that serious reporting on the issue is scarce. It is
crucial that news outlets independently investigate civilian casualties in
Afghanistan-- not only how many there have been, but how and why they
happened.

ACTION: Please ask the three major networks' nightly news shows to
investigate how many civilians have been killed in Afghanistan as a result
of U.S. military action, and to examine the legality of those attacks.

CONTACT:
ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings
Phone: 212-456-4040
Fax: 212-456-2795
mailto:netaudr at abc.com

CBS Evening News with Dan Rather
Phone: 212-975-3691
Fax: 212-975-1893
mailto:audsvcs at cbs.com

NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw
Phone: 212-664-4971
Fax: 202-362-2009
mailto:nightly at msnbc.com

As always, please remember that your comments are taken more seriously if
you maintain a polite tone. Please cc fair at fair.org with your
correspondence.

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