Media Comparison

The War on Terror began on September 11, 2001 in response to the devastating terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City. We have been at war for five years, funding billions of dollars for a cause that President Bush claims to have been a success. Democracy Now! views the War in Iraq as a disastrous situation, whereas Fox News stands squarely behind the government (creating a mixed reaction from the public).

Democracy Now! takes a political standpoint against the war. It has investigated all the aspects of the War in Iraq and has concluded that President Bush's motive for entering Iraq is still unclear. In Bush's defense, he claims that "the regime of Saddam Hussein was a clear threat. The world is safer because Saddam Hussein is no longer in power (Bush, George W. Quote. _Democracy Now WBAI, New York. 29 Sept. 2006)." Also, Bush's comments were announced after a report from the Senate Intelligence Committee came out that "concluded [that] Saddam Hussein had no relationship with al-Quida despite the Bush administration's claims (Bush, George W. Quote. _Democracy Now!_. WBAI, New York. 29 Sept. 2006)." Furthermore, authors Michael Isikoff and David Corn recently published their novel, HUBRIS: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War to expose the details of the War in Iraq/War on Terror. Democracy Now! focuses on Isikoff and Corn's book to counteract the ideals and reasons for entering the war, and what we can do to reduce our involvement. Democracy Now! challenges the Bush administration and bashes the beliefs of this war with evidence that our reasons for getting involved were misleading. They claim that Bush has not been honest with the public. Being an independent news media source, Democracy Now! has their own opinion and perception on the war and wants it to be heard by citing Isikoff and Corn's novel. Sarcasm and highlighting key quotes of Isikoff and Corn's novel are effective tactics in conveying their message. They discuss in detail the story of David Kay, an NBC News consultant who "firmly believed that there were WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) [in Iraq]," the authors bring up the fact that Kay went into Iraq in search of WMDs and returned without any luck. Kay spoke to Bush about his failure in his search and stated to him, "I've got to tell you this. We're not going to find stockpiles of WMDs, maybe a production surge capability, but nothing like you said would be there." He then waited for the president to respond, but President Bush said nothing. David Kay left the office and stated that "he (Kay) had never met a more un-inquisitive fellow (Bush) at such a senior level of government ((Kay, David. Quote. _Democracy Now!_. WBAI, New York. 29 Sept. 2006)." This harsh criticism on the President emulates the idea that Democracy Now! does not agree with Bush's tactics or philosophy for entering the war. If it were not for freedom of speech, this concept of voicing against the government would be impossible. Without this freedom, our opinions against the government may have been censored. Democracy Now! rejects the continuation of funding for the war because their perception is fixed on the idea that war is not a way to peace.

Fox News reported on September 29th that the "Senate unanimously approved $70 billion more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan (Fox News. 29 September, 2006)." Statistics show that since September 11, 2001, Congress has approved $507 billion for "Iraq, Afghanistan and heightened security at overseas military bases. The War in Iraq has cost $379 billion (Fox News. 29 September, 2006)." Fox News does not question where exactly this $379 billion is going? That money could be used to help our nation, provide healthcare, education, reduce poverty, etcÐ'...They simply present