After reporting Bush's attack on war critics,media ignored Hagel's response

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http://mediamatters.org/items/200511170001

When President Bush claimed in a November 11 speech that those who have accused the White House of manipulating intelligence in the run-up to the Iraq war are sending "the wrong signal to our troops and to an enemy that is questioning America's will," numerous media outlets -- among them The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, CBS, ABC, and NBC -- prominently covered the story. Yet those same outlets ignored public criticism of Bush's remarks from a potential Republican presidential candidate: In a November 15 speech at the Council for Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C., Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE) said that the administration's attack on war critics is "not democracy nor what this country has stood for" and that "he Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them."

Bush's November 11 comments were reported on that evening's network news broadcasts. NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams reported that Bush said such criticism "hurts the troops and helps the enemy"; Bob Scheiffer reported on the CBS Evening News that Bush accused war critics of "undercutting American troops in Iraq"; and Bob Woodruff similarly reported on ABC's World News Tonight Bush's assertion that criticism of the war is "endangering U.S. troops." On November 12, The New York Times reported that Bush "sharply criticized Democrats who have accused him of misleading the nation about the threat from Iraq's weapons programs, calling their criticism 'deeply irresponsible' and suggesting that they are undermining the war effort," while the Los Angeles Times noted that Bush "said his critics were undermining U.S. troops with their claims."

But none of those outlets reported Hagel's response to Bush's comments. The NBC Nightly News did note on November 15 that Hagel said the United States "should begin drawing down forces in Iraq next year," but did not include his comments defending the right to question the war.

By contrast, Knight Ridder and The Washington Post documented Hagel's remarks. Knight Ridder noted on November 15 that Hagel "chided Bush for suggesting several times in recent days that war critics are undermining American troops and comforting the enemy." The Post reported on November 16: