[Peace-discuss] ABC minimizes support for withdrawal

[C. G. Estabrook]

                   Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
              Media analysis, critiques and activism

  http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2656
  ABC's Antiwar "Reality Check"
  World News Tonight minimizes support for withdrawal
  September 1, 2005

Cindy Sheehan's protest outside George W. Bush's Texas ranch
has recently focused media attention on the antiwar movement.
But some mainstream media outlets seem determined to
marginalize such activism.

On August 25, ABC World News Tonight anchor Charles Gibson
asked, "People may tell pollsters they oppose the war, but are
they part of any real antiwar movement? We asked ABC's Dan
Harris to take a reality check on the depth of sentiment
against the war."

Harris began his "reality check" with this:

"For months, Americans have been telling pollsters that going
to war was a mistake. But that does not necessarily add up to
a major antiwar movement. While Cindy Sheehan gets a lot of
media attention, only 13 percent of Americans, according to
the latest ABC News poll, want an immediate withdrawal of US
troops, which may be why the public protests thus far have
been relatively small."

It's true, as Harris said, that polls have shown a majority in
the U.S. calling the invasion of Iraq a "mistake" (e.g., 53
percent in a August 22-24 AP/Ipsos poll, 54 percent in a
August 5-7 CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll). But ABC's suggestion
that a much smaller fraction opposes the ongoing war is highly
misleading.

The 13 percent figure that he cites is derived from a
two-month old Washington Post/ABC News poll, taken June 23-26,
which asked, "Do you think the number of U.S. military forces
in Iraq should be increased, decreased, or kept about the
same?"--and then asked the 38 percent who gave the 
"decreased" answer, "Should all U.S. forces in Iraq be
withdrawn immediately, or should they be decreased, but not
all withdrawn immediately?" Thirty-four percent of this
sub-group chose "withdrawn immediately," and 34 percent of 38
percent is 13 percent.

Any poll result arrived at in such a roundabout manner should
be viewed skeptically. And indeed, there's a much more
straightforward question getting at the same issue earlier in
the same poll:

"Do you think the United States should keep its military
forces in Iraq until civil order is restored there, even if
that means continued U.S. military casualties; OR, do you
think the United States should withdraw its military forces
from Iraq in order to avoid further U.S. military casualties,
even if that means civil order is not restored there?"

Here 41 percent chose the "withdrawal" option--not a majority,
but much higher than the marginal 13 percent that ABC News
chose to highlight. (Note that a few more respondents
supported withdrawal than were in favor of decreasing the
number of troops -- illustrating the problem with measuring
support for immediate withdrawal as a subset of those who
wanted to decrease troop numbers.)

And surveys more recent than that two-month old "latest ABC
News poll" showed substantially more support for withdrawal --
either gradual or immediate.

An August 9 Gallup poll found 33 percent support for
withdrawing all U.S. troops now and 23 percent support for
bringing some of the troops home.  And an August 25 Harris
Poll, released the same day as ABC's newscast, found that 61
percent of respondents favored bringing most U.S. troops "home
in the next year," versus 36 percent who wished to "wait for a
stable government."  

Given those findings, it seems that ABC preferred its own
older poll simply because it fit the agenda of the report --
namely, to suggest that there is no significant antiwar
feeling in the country. Harris carried that dubious point
further by claiming that the apparently slim support for troop
withdrawal "may be why the public protests thus far have been
relatively small." That depends on what "relatively small"
might mean.  The worldwide demonstrations against the war on
February 15, 2003 attracted millions to the streets to protest
a looming invasion of Iraq. And over 1,600 vigils in support
of Cindy Sheehan were held around the county on August 17. 
Organizers Moveon.org claim hundreds of thousands of Americans
participated in those events.

ABC's Harris closed in typical mainstream media form by
suggesting that grassroots activism is less important than the
political establishment: "While pop songs might reflect the
public mood, it may take a politician with a real plan to
truly mobilize people." If history is any guide, the people
will mobilize the politicians to oppose the war -- not the
other way around.

CONTACT:
ABC World News Tonight
Phone: 212-456-4040
netaudr at abc.com