CBS This Morning on Tuesday adopted the dishonest media trope of describing rioting chaos and anarchy as “mostly peaceful.” Talking about the continuing unrest in Portland, co-host Anthony Mason said this even as he showed footage of fires and intimidation outside the Mayor’s home.
Mason recounted that “police in Portland rushed protesters late last night as they have done frequently during more than three months of clashes and demonstrations.” Then, as CBS video showed out of control fires raging, he insisted, “Protests were mostly peaceful earlier in the evening and focused on calls for the city's mayor, Ted Wheeler, to resign. A fire was set near the mayor's home.”
Mason added, “Oregon governor Kate Brown has called on law enforcement from surrounding areas to help quell the unrest.” Sounds like everything is under control, very peaceful.
NBC Nightly News guest host Kristen Welker on Monday used similar language, claiming, “We begin tonight with the flash points in American cities. Largely peaceful protests, but some marred by violence. Now all of it at the center of the 2020 presidential election.” Largely peaceful, but violent? Words have meaning. Speaking of the chaos in Wisconsin, reporter Gabe Gutierrez insisted, “Over the weekend, peaceful protests here, even as the union representing Kenosha police took a stronger stance defending the officers involved.”
Last week, CNN actually used this network graphic for Wisconsin: “FIERY BUT MOSTLY PEACEFUL PROTESTS AFTER POLICE SHOOTING".
The pretzel-like misuse of language by CBS was sponsored by Honda and Xfinity. Click on the links to let them know what you think.
Partial transcripts are below. Click “expand” to read more.
CBS This Morning
9/1/2020
7:09 AM ET
ANTHONY MASON: Now we turn to another city facing unrest, police in Portland rushed protesters late last night as they have done frequently during more than three months of clashes and demonstrations. Protests were mostly peaceful earlier in the evening and focused on calls for the city's mayor, Ted Wheeler, to resign. A fire was set near the mayor's home. Oregon governor Kate Brown has called on law enforcement from surrounding areas to help quell the unrest. We're also learning more about the man who was shot dead in Portland, Saturday night. 39-year-old Aaron Danielson supported a pro-Trump group in the area. Police are still searching for
NBC Nightly News
8/31/2020
7:01 PM ET
KRISTEN WELKER: I'm Kristen Welker in for Lester. We begin tonight with the flash points in American cities. Largely peaceful protests, but some marred by violence. Now all of it at the center of the 2020 presidential election.
…
7:03 PM ET
GABE GUTIERREZ: Over the weekend, peaceful protests here, even as the union representing Kenosha police took a stronger stance defending the officers involved. The union says the officers responded to a complaint that Blake was trying to steal the caller's keys and vehicle, that Blake had a knife and was not-compliant when officers issued verbal commands and that he put one of the officers in a head lock.
