'Today' Highlights Muslim Identity of UK Terror Target, Ignores That of Suspects
NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein
newsbusters.org
Like describing a spiral staircase without using your hands, "Today" pulled off the impressive feat this morning of getting through an entire segment about the UK terror plot uncovered yesterday without once mentioning that the suspects are Muslim. Oh, the word "Muslim" did pop up - but only for purposes of describing the intended victim of the plot and concerned area residents.
NBC's Keith Miller reported from London, mentioned that "the alleged target of the kidnaping [was] a British Muslim soldier on leave from Afghanistan."
View edited video clip here.
But when it came to the suspects, Miller said only that "nine people were arrested for what the police say was a plan to murder the Muslim soldier and post his beheading on the internet."
Miller than conducted a Muslim-man-in-the-street interview with a local resident. Introducing the clip, Miller observed, "like many Muslim residents in the area where the arrests were made, Abdul Ganat cannot believe it."
Mr. Ganat: "It's very shocking. I've got two young kids and I'd be devastated if they saw this kind of a thing."
Reports such as this one from the AP are readily available, indicating that the suspects are "believed to be British men of Pakistani descent," alluding to them as "Islamic extremists,"
What would account for "Today's" reticence in mentioning the Muslim identity of the suspects while highlighting the Muslim identity of the victim and that of shocked area residents? You don't suppose this could this be political correctness at work, do you? |
