[LETTERS to the editor]CNN’s biases are far from liberal

The Cable News Network (CNN) has become one of the most prominent news agencies in the world; it has also earned the distinction of having the political impact of the 24-hour news cycle, which it pioneered, named the “CNN effect.” But does CNN really deserve our praise?
The Media Research Center is a conservative media watchdog founded in 1987 with the mission of “bringing balance and responsibility to the news media.” [On its Web site, the center describes itself as “The leader in documenting, exposing, and neutralizing liberal media bias.”] What is noteworthy is that it has always criticized CNN for biased broadcasts.
My comments below mainly refer to CNN broadcasts in the United States; however, its international version is not without the same faults.
Most conspicuously, CNN has shown a pattern of leniency toward the George W. Bush administration. Its veteran correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, has admitted to this and called the news agency “cheerleaders for the Bush war drive against Iraq.”
Moreover, there is clearly mounting criticism of CNN for its international coverage. As recent evidence, Lebanese children who had been killed, or injured and bleeding to death did not get as much concern from CNN as Israeli families and children who were “traumatized” by Hezbollah’s attacks.
Not long ago, Indians protested CNN’s pro-Pakistan bias. They stated, “Good reporting is not about deciding what is right or about taking sides, but about representing the major perspectives on a situation. We do not demand that CNN agree with India.
But CNN must stop ignoring, subverting, and trivializing the positions taken by one-sixth of humanity.”
“Flooded streets of New Orleans ... so many of these people, almost all of them that we see, are so poor and they are so black ...” This nonsense came out of the mouth of Wolf Blitzer, host of CNN’s “The Situation Room.” It seems broadcasters like him sometimes forget that millions of people watch them worldwide.
CNN needs to realize that every little thing they say can create more anti-Americanism and simultaneously make 300 million U.S. citizens look arrogant everywhere they go.

by Koh Wan-gyu