One hundred and six people died in Iraq on Monday, a bloody milestone that CBS's morning show ignored. Good Morning America's Josh Elliott recounted, "And oversees, this has been the deadliest day in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew last year." CBS This Morning skipped the story. ABC provided the fullest context.
On his Political Punch blog, Jake Tapper recounted, "President Obama Praises Self for Ending War in Iraq on Bloodiest Day of the Year in That Country." He wondered, "Is it bad timing or irrelevant?" Tapper featured a video that the Obama campaign released touting the end of the war.
On NBC's Today, Natalie Morales recounted in a single news brief: "Today marks the single bloodiest day in Iraq so far this year, as nationwide attacks have killed at least 89 people. The wave of violence comes just days after al Qaeda issued a warning that it is regrouping."
Guest anchor Jeff Glor on CBS's Evening News, Sunday, did note early attacks, explaining that bombings had killed nearly 20 people. But there was no update on Monday's This Morning.
A 2005 study by the Media Research Center found that (under a Republican president) the networks were eager to report bad news relating to Iraq:
Network coverage has been overwhelmingly pessimistic. More than half of all stories (848, or 61%) focused on negative topics or presented a pessimistic analysis of the situation, four times as many as featured U.S. or Iraqi achievements or offered an optimistic assessment (just 211 stories, or 15%).
A transcript of the two July 23 news briefs can be found below:
GMA
8:03JOSH ELLIOTT: And oversees, this has been the deadliest day in Iraq since U.S. troops withdrew last year. At least 82 people have been killed in a series of attacks, including 13 Iraqi soldiers shot when their base was attacked.
Today
7:12AM
NATALIE MORALES: Today marks the single bloodiest day in Iraq so far this year, as nationwide attacks have killed at least 89 people. The wave of violence comes just days after al Qaeda issued a warning that it is regrouping.
