Big Media's Coverage of U.S. Politics Influenced by their Corporate Agenda

Interview with journalist and filmmaker Danny Schechter, conducted by Scott Harris

Much as the Democratic Party did in Boston during their convention, Republicans are doing their best to transform and moderate their image for TV cameras focused on the party's first ever convention in New York City. While President Bush ran for office in 2000 as a "compassionate conservative" and a "Uniter not a divider," his administration has staked out radical right positions on national security, tax policy, civil liberties and cultural issues like abortion and gay marriage.

But during the convention, many of the most influential and powerful controversial figures in the White House and Republican congressional leadership remained out of sight. In their place were Republican moderates such as New York Gov. George Pataki, Arizona Sen. John McCain and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger who attempted to convince swing voters in battleground states to support President Bush. In a signal of how politicians will play on the emotions of fearful voters this year, former New York Mayor Rudolf Giuliani opened the convention by exploiting the memory of the Sept. 11 attacks and the thousands who died to promote Bush's re-election.

It will be largely left to the media to interpret and expose the GOP's extreme makeover seen by millions of Americans viewing the convention through the lens of abbreviated network and cable TV coverage. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with author and filmmaker Danny Schechter of MediaChannel.org, who examines the media's coverage of the Republican convention and the hundreds of thousands of protesters who confronted them in New York City.

Danny Schechter's latest film, "Weapons of Mass Deception," examines the media's coverage of the Iraq War. See a trailer of the documentary at www.wmdTheFilm.com

Related links:

www.mediachannel.org

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting www.fair.org

www.robertmcchesney.com

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