HOW ABOUT A LIST OF THE BIG MEDIA FLOPS OF THE PAST YEAR

The end of any year brings with it all sorts of lists. We have the top news stories of each year, state and national; the best- and worst-dressed lists; "People" magazine's 25 most interesting people of the year; lists of who or what is "in" and who or what is "out", etc. How about a list of the most biggest and most important stories ignored by the media each year?

Quashed Stories of the Year

"One of the recurring complaints about the media is that their news judgment is often faulty, and editors occasionally confess that they haven't given a story the coverage it deserves. In 1990, the managing editor of the Washington Post actually confessed that the Post had downplayed a huge anti-abortion rally in Washington because so many of its reporters and editors were not sympathetic to that cause. To celebrate this rare outburst of candor, we have compiled a list of stories we considered important that were missed, ignored, spiked or seriously downplayed in 1990.

"1. The revelation by KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky that Harry L. Hopkins, the closest advisor to President Franklin Roosevelt during World War II, was a Soviet agent, their most valuable agent in the United States, according to the NKVD agent who was his "control." This was revealed in excerpts from a new book by Gordievsky and Christopher Andrew published in Time magazine's October 22 issue. Except for The New York Times, no major media, including Time itself, reported the Hopkins revelation as news. No major media, including The New York Times, mentioned very persuasive evidence in Hopkins record that supports the credibility of the charge.

"2. The findings of the National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP), a $537-million, 10-year study funded by the government that showed that acid rain was not the serious problem that the environmentalists and their media allies had portrayed it to be. The reporting of this important, massive study was so sparse that when the CLean Air Bill was passed with its costly, unnecessary requirements to combat acid rain, both The New York Times and the Washington Post ran stories that ignored NAPAP findings and assumed that acid rain was a serious problem that justified the new legislation.

"3. The evidence of the guilt of Jennifer Jean Casolo, an American captured in El Salvador when the police were tipped off by a captured FMLN operative that her residence was being used as an arms and ammunition dump for the FMLN. The excavation of the arms cache and incriminating papers belonging to Casolo was videotaped and made available to the media. The evidence was virtually ignored by our media, and Casolo, after being released and returned to the United States as a result of political pressure, went on a speaking tour successfully portraying herself as an innocent martyr.

"4. The failure, during a heavily covered visit of Nelson and Winnie Mandela to this country, to bring up Winnie Mandela's complicity in the abduction and torture of four black youths, one of whom was killed. This had been testified to in court during the trial of her chief bodyguard, Jerry Richardson, shortly before Mandela arrived in this country. There was a similar blackout on Winnie Mandela's endorsement of the barbaric practice of `necklacing,' lynching by fire, which had been recorded on videotape and was readily available to the media.

"5. The report in April 1990 by the Centers for Disease Control of the results of a study that found no evidence that servicemen stationed in Vietnam during the period when Agent Orange was sprayed there had higher rates of cancer than those who had not served in Vietnam. This good news was generally downplayed and was blatantly misreported by some of the media. ABC News focused on the anomolous finding that naval personnel who had served on ships in Vietnamese waters but were never exposed to Agent Orange had a higher than expected incidence of non-Hodgkins lymphoma; it completely ignored the fact that the report cleared Agent Orange.

"6. The successful boycott of Burger King by Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (CLeaR TV), a coalition of 1600 Christian leaders. Early in 1990, CLeaR TV announced a one-year boycott of Burger King, saying it was the company that most frequently advertised on television programs featuring gratuitous violence, sex and profanity. Even though the boycott was totally ignored by the major media, it had the desired effect on Burger King. In October, Burger King negotiated with CLeaR TV to get the boycott ended. On Nov. 5, it ran ads in newspapers throughout the country saying, `Burger King wishes to go on record as supporting traditional American values on television, especially the importance of the family. We believe the American people desire television programs that reflect the values they are trying instill in their children. We pledge to support such programs with our advertising dollars.' This was run as part of an agreement with CLeaR TV to terminate the boycott. This was a great victory for CLeaR TV, whose boycott the media had ignored and whose victory was given minimal coverage."

Accuracy in Media

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"It is a gloomy moment in history. Not for many years ... has there been so much ... apprehension ... Never has the future seemed so incalculable. In France the political cauldron seethes ... Russia hangs like a cloud on the horizon. All the resources of the British Empire are sorely tried ... Of our own troubles (in the United States) no man can see the end."

Harper's Weekly, October 10, 1857