Over at the MRC's BusinessandMedia.org Web site, I take a look at how CNN's Ali Velshi delivered a biased broadside against the insurance industry on today's "American Morning."

In between stories of frustrated insurance claimants, Velshi shared that “the insurance industry says that some in the media and CNN in particular haven’t given them a fair shake.” In response, Velshi added that he “invited the CEO of State Farm” and the president and CEO of Allstate were “unable to accommodate our request for an interview either.”

Yet elsewhere in his story, Velshi admitted that one insurance company was unable to talk to Velshi about individual cases, exactly the topic of Velshi’s story: individual cases of frustrated insurance claimants.

“Allstate says it won’t comment on specific cases,” he noted after highlighting one couple’s gripes about the company.

In fact, many companies refuse to comment to the media about cases under litigation or threat of litigation, and Velshi should know it. Instead, the business reporter could have sought comment from the American Insurance Association (AIA) or the Insurance Information Institute (III) for industry input in his story.

Indeed, that’s what he did two days earlier, when Velshi filed a similarly slanted story about damage to one Cecil Tillman’s property in his first installment of “Red Tape and Rubble.” In his August 28 story, Velshi noted that “we wanted to ask Nationwide about Tillman’s case, but the firm wouldn’t comment, so we went to the Insurance Information Institute, the industry’s public relations arm.”

For the full article, click here.

—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters