Media Continues Iraq Beatup - Ignores Iran
The Lowy Institute has released survey results which the media is trumpeting as a big negative for the Howard government. Posting a paraphrased statement by an opposition leader as the title of the article, News.com highlights three of the questions about Iraq and notes how

The poll, released by the Lowy Institute today, found 84 per cent of respondents believe the war has done nothing to lower the threat of terrorism.

Two-thirds of respondents disagreed the war would lead to the spread of democracy in the Middle East, and 85 per cent think the experience should make us cautious about using military force to deal with rogue regimes.

The Sydney Morning Herald also chimes in on Iraq and puts in the added digs at Australian foreign policy being too greatly influenced by Washington.

What they don't tell you is that 82% of the thousand or so people surveyed are somewhat or very much concerned about Iran having nuclear weapons. They also don't mention that 70% of Australians view the alliance with the US as fairly or very important to our security. Neither article mentioned that although the threat of terrorism has apparently not been decreased, 86% of those surveyed felt safe or very safe.

Ah the cherry picking for their own agenda. The media doesn't need to print falsehoods to influence opinions, just decide what is 'news'.

The survey (available in pdf here)has a wealth of more inconvenient results. Like that although many (79%) feel the U.S. should be less of a 'world policeman' to "fight violations of international law and aggression wherever they occur", 64% (very) and 32% (somewhat) of those surveyed think it is an important foreign policy goal for Australia to protect "weaker nations against foreign aggression".
- posted by Alan Grey @ Monday, October 02, 2006