Stories Not Told

John Leo has a nice piece over at US News about important stories that have been virtually ignored by the MSM. They include:

[A] May 18 report in the Afghan newspaper Kabul Weekly said the riots that killed 17 people were not about disrespect for the Koran in American detainment camps--they were a show of force by the Taliban and another fundamentalist group, Hezb-e Eslami. "These demonstrations were organized by the Taliban and their supporters, and only some naive people joined the protesters," the newspaper said.
....
On a May 13 panel at the National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis, Linda Foley, the national president of the Newspaper Guild, said that the U.S. military deliberately targets journalists, "not just U.S. journalists either, by the way. They target and kill journalists from other countries, particularly Arab countries, at news services like al Jazeera, for example.
....
A different omission marred the reporting of Amnesty International's report charging torture in U.S. detainment camps. The group didn't just call Guantanamo a "gulag," an over-the-top remark that was universally reported. In a press release that most reporters ignored, the group also invited foreign governments to snatch certain visiting American officials off the streets and bring them to trial for crimes against humanity. The suggested snatchees, should they travel abroad, were President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, former CIA Director George Tenet, and other unnamed civilian and military officials.

The first one is understandable. The MSM is always looking for an "American angle" on any story and ignores it if it cannot be tied to US actions or interests. And, of course, they tend to feature criticisms of the US, especially the military. That, of course, is an inexcusable bias, but it's SOP at the major media. Still, the counter story has to be told somewhere and where better than in the blogosphere?

The second story is just a coverup of a story that is embarrassing to the MSM. Not important in and of itself, but it should get more coverage than it has.

The third is genuinely offensive, and should be blazoned on every front page in America. Amnesty International advocating the kidnapping of US Government officials is inexcusable. There have to be consequences -- but probably won't, given all the good press AI has gotten over the years.

Read Leo's piece here -- and remember it next time you watch or read a MSM report.