Anti-American Bias in Forgein Press

pwo said:

A heard something funny on FOX NEWS this morning.

Last week, Pres. Bush had his meeting with Pres. Putin. During the conversation, Bush asked Putin why he was arresting Russian journalist who spoke bad about him. Putin responded by accusing Bush of doing the same thing. What was Putin talking about? Dan Rather and others at CBS losing their jobs. Putin was misinformed into thinking that they were arrested and Bush was behind it.

If Putin does not know the facts then what do normal people think about us around the world.

I don't blame then for thinking that we are evil and Bush is Hitler.

PS: Thank you vague or whoever for putting up this Forum

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In an odd exchange during the private meeting that preceded their joint news conference on Thursday, a defensive Putin reportedly expressed his belief that Bush fired CBS News anchor Dan Rather.

Richard Wolffe writes in Newsweek: "It was meant to be a heart-to-heart: just the two presidents and their translators, sitting alone inside the historic castle that overlooks the Slovak capital of Bratislava. Four years earlier, in another castle in Central Europe, George W. Bush looked Vladimir Putin in the eye and saw his trustworthy soul. But what he saw inside Putin last week was far less comforting. When Bush confronted his Russian counterpart about the freedom of the press in Russia, Putin shot back with an attack of his own: 'We didn't criticize you when you fired those reporters at CBS.'

"It's not clear how well Putin understands the controversy that led to the dismissal of four CBS journalists over the discredited report on Bush's National Guard service. Yet it's all too clear how Putin sees the relationship between Bush and the American media -- just like his own. Bush's aides have long feared that former KGB officers in Putin's inner circle are painting a twisted picture of U.S. policy. So Bush explained how he had no power to fire American journalists. It made little difference. When the two presidents emerged for their joint press conference, one Russian reporter repeated Putin's language about journalists getting fired. Bush (already hot after an earlier question about his spying on U.S. citizens) asked the reporter if he felt free. 'They obviously planted the question,' said one of Bush's senior aides."

John F. ****erson writes in Time: "George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush's four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin's crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed. If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. 'Putin thought we'd fired Dan Rather,' says a senior Administration official. 'It was like something out of 1984.' "

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pwo said:

What was Putin talking about? Dan Rather and others at CBS losing their jobs. Putin was misinformed into thinking.... Bush was behind it.

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shuamort said:

Hmm, I don't see the connection that the world news has an anti-american bias to what Putin had said. Here's a link to a Washington Post article about the exchange. and here's the relevent part:
It would appear that Putin got his info from former KGB officers. The Russian Press had further pressed the issue since it came out of Putin's mouth, I'm sure that the Russian press would find Putin's words more credible than Bush's (That's a bit of patriotism there, same would go over here.) The Russian press, given the fact that they inquired more right after the tete-a-tete between the leaders would just go to suggest that they hadn't had time to fact check Putin's words. Now, the big difference would be if the Russian press is still echoing Putin's assertation and not doing the proper factchecking.

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"Mr. Bush, not long ago you made the statement that the press in Russia is not free. What, in your view, is that lack of freedom all about?" Interfax reporter Alexei Meshkov asked.

Before Bush could answer, the reporter then turned on Putin and demanded to know why he was not sticking up for Russian reporters by talking about violations of the rights of American journalists.

A startled Bush then replied that Putin had brought up the subject of journalists getting fired recently in the United States.

"People do get fired in the American press. They don't get fired by the government, however. They get fired by their editors or they get fired by their producers or they get fired by the owners of a particular outlet or network," Bush said.

Under Putin, journalists who angered the Kremlin have lost their jobs, and television networks that challenged the Kremlin line have been taken over or shut down.

"If you're a member of the press corps and you feel comfortable with the press in Russia, then I think that is a pretty interesting observation for those of us who don't live in Russia to listen to," Bush said to Meshkov, whose news agency rarely deviates from the official line.

An equally agitated Putin rejected the notion he was keeping silent on the issue, but he said it was not something worth making a fuss about.

"What does it mean that we keep silent or I keep silent on some problems? First, I am not the propaganda minister," Putin said. "Second, we discuss all questions absolutely openly."

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If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. "Putin thought we'd fired Dan Rather," says a senior Administration official. "It was like something out of 1984."

The Russians did not let the matter drop. Later, during the leaders' joint press conference, one of the questioners Putin called on asked Bush about the very same firings, a coincidence the White House assumed had been orchestrated. The odd episode reinforced the Administration's view that Putin's impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides.

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