A search by UFPPC's Fred Moreau of the web sites of 22 U.S. daily newspapers shows that the story of First Lieutenant Ehren K. Watada, the U.S. Army officer who announced in Tacoma, WA, on Jun. 7, 2006, that he will refuse to deploy to Iraq on the grounds that the war in Iraq is illegal, is being ignored at the national level.[1] ...
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WATADA CASE BLACKED OUT OF U.S. MEDIA
By Fred Moreau
United for Peace of Pierce County (WA)
June 17, 2006
Ten days after Lt. Ehren K. Watada announced in a press conference here that he would refuse to obey orders to deploy with a Stryker brigade to Iraq on the grounds that the war was not only immoral but "illegal under American law," a review of 22 newspapers demonstrates that the national news editors of the U.S. major dailies have made a decision not to cover the story.
Web searches of the sites of 22 dailies show that only newspapers in the Pacific Northwest have devoted any resources or attention to the Watada story, with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer leading the way (12 items).
In the national press, only the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has mentioned Lt. Watada more than once. The Washington Post and the Houston Chronicle carry but one AP story.
Lt. Watada's name has never been mentioned by the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, and eight other major dailies.
NUMBER OF ITEMS REFERRING TO LT. EHREN WATADA AS OF JUN. 17, 2006, IN 22 U.S. DAILIES
New York Times: 0
Washington Post: 1 (AP)
Wall Street Journal: 0
Los Angeles Times: 0
Boston Globe: 0
Chicago Tribune: 0
Philadelphia Inquirer: 0
Christian Science Monitor: 0
USA Today: 1
San Jose Mercury News: 0
Miami Herald: 1
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 2
Cleveland Plain Dealer: 0
Houston Chronicle: 1 (AP)
Dallas Morning News: 0
St. Louis Post Dispatch: 0
Denver Post: 0
Seattle Times: 5
Seattle Post-Intelligencer: 12
News Tribune (Tacoma, WA): 7
Olympian (Olympia, WA): 6
Bremerton (WA) Sun: 2