CIA Tape Scandal: News Outlets Struggle With Word 'Torture'

[antiimperialist]

By Greg Mitchell

Published: December 08, 2007 11:00 AM ET updated

NEW YORK As the protests surrounding revelations that the CIA had destroyed tapes that showed brutal interrogations by its agents, most new outlets refused to brand what the tapes likely showed as "torture."

One Associated Press article referred simply to "interrogation" on the tapes, at one point putting "enhanced interrogation" in quotes. Another AP article called it "harsh interrogation."

Mark Mazzeti in The New York Times used "severe interrogation methods." Eric Lichtblau in the same paper chose the same phrase. David Johnston, in a Saturday article for paper's Web site, referred to "aggressive interrogations" and "coercive techniques." Reuters, in its lead, relied on "severe interrogation techniques."

...

However, a Washington Post editorial on Saturday bluntly carried as a headline: "The Torture Tapes." And the Sunday editorial in The New York Times also did not turn away, as it was topped by: "In Arrogant Defense of Torture."

To read more: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003682997

[whistle]

1. Remeber the missing 18 minutes on the Nixon tapes? Same thing!