Last week, Josh Nelson, in a significant diary, pointed out how ABC used a deliberately misleading headline to insinuate that RFK Jr. was fighting with Obama when he was not.
Brian Ross contacted Josh, as he noted in an update, demanding a retraction, which was not forthcoming because the diarist was accurate.
Well, ABC and Brian Ross are at it again. Consider this headline, from Brian Ross's "The Blotter" site [Update 2: here's the link]:
Air Force One Photo Op Triggers Panic in Manhattan
NYC Mayor Bloomberg Blasts Flyover as "Insensitive" and "Ill-Conceived"
If you do more than just scan the headline, you'll see, of course, that the term "Air Force One" in this case is a misrepresentation, since that term only applies when the president is on board. And as the story itself makes clear, Obama was NOT on board the plane at the time.
And hey, I agree that it was really awful for the military to fly a 747 low over New York City, reminding people in a most visceral way of the traumatic effects of 9/11. That was a really terrible, dumb idea.
But don't blame the president. He had nothing to do with it. Imagine how it would have looked if ABC had instead written, more accurately,
Department of Defense doesn't warn NYC before doing low-flying photo shoot.
That would be more accurate. But it wouldn't, apparently, serve ABC's and/or Brian Ross's increasingly bizarre efforts to smear the president through provocative headlines.
If you would like to protest to ABC, please submit your thoughts here or by email to netaudr@abc.com, by phone at 212-456-7777 or by snail mail to:
ABC News
77 W. 66 St.
New York, NY 10023
Thank you for your activism on this matter.
[UPDATE: It's even worse. On ABCNews's front page, they scream this:
NY Mayor 'Furious' About Air Force One Flyover Photo Op; WH Stumbles
[UPDATE 3: This diary is about a misleading headline, not the incident itself, which is a separate discussion. I don't think it's appropriate for a major network to insinuate the President took a low-flying swoop over NYC, which is the impression created, when the President was not on the plane.
[UPDATE 4: From Keith Olbermann in a comment below]:
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release April 27, 2009
Statement from Louis Caldera, Director White House Military Office, on Air Force One flight over New York
"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."
To be clear - this diary isn't about the military flying over NYC. This is a diary about the media misrepresenting the plane as "Air Force One", a designation that applies not to the physical craft, but to the presence of the President. It's not Air Force One if the president isn't on it.
The headline gives the mistaken impresssion that Obama himself did a low-fly over NYC, which is not what happened. And ABC knows that's not what happened. So why do such a misleading headline except to imply such and hope people don't actually read the piece, which does make it clear Obama was not on the plane.
UPDATE 5: I want to give a shout out to CNN's journalistically responsible headline on this same story:
Low-flying jet unsettles New Yorkers
See?
That's how journalism should be. Simple. Accurate. Non-propagandistic.