Add the Los Angeles Times to the List of Murtha Trumpeters

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Add the Los Angeles Times to the list of media outlets trumpeting an incomplete portrait of Rep. John Murtha's announcement yesterday. Splashed across page one, above the fold, of today's Times is a large color photo of Murtha (see it) next to the headline, Democratic Hawk and War Veteran Wants U.S. Troops Out of Iraq Now." The title of the caption in the color photo is "About-face," and the article itself also references an "about-face" by Murtha, even though Murtha began expressing criticism of the Bush administration's handling of Iraq within six months after the invasion, as documented by this Noel Sheppard Newsbusters post and this Tim Graham Newsbusters post (in reference to Murtha's 2004 Ted Koppel appearence). In the entire 1613-word article, by Maura Reynolds, not one mention is made of Murtha's past comments critical of Bush and the Iraq war. The reader is clearly left with the false impression that this Democratic "hawk" has suddenly made a 180-degree turn on the issue. Thorough and balanced reporting at the Los Angeles Times? Not even close.