Newspaper Betrays Its Pro-War Bias

Letter printed in the Richmond Times Dispatch

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

I was disturbed by the way the newspaper covered a peaceful march protesting the fifth anniversary of the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq.

A headline over the photo read, "Showing Only Their Beliefs," and the caption stated that protesters from RVA4Peace covered their faces during the march. The picture showed two people, faces covered in black hoods.

Putting the headline, caption, and picture together, it isn't difficult to come up with the erroneous idea that the protesters were ashamed of their beliefs or frightened to show themselves.

As one of more than 50 concerned citizens who first listened to a winter soldier speech at the Virginia War Memorial given by Toni Davy, a veteran of the initial bombing of Iraq, I can assure the paper's readers that we were all proud to be sharing our views with the public.

Since our first stop was The Times-Dispatch offices on Franklin Street, it is difficult for me to understand how it wasn't conveyed to anyone who reads the newspaper that the five or six protesters (out of 50) with black hoods and orange jumpsuits represented the prisoners who have been tortured by various elements of the United States government -- torture that has been admitted to and that ignores the Geneva Convention signed by the United States.

Ironically, as the march was winding down in front of the federal courthouse, the newspaper was hosting a roundtable discussion on its political coverage, pushing the idea that The Times-Dispatch is unbiased. This in itself is amusing, but it's made even more so by the fact that the photo the paper chose to print showed the hooded protester's sign clearly. It read, "Media Lies, Americans Die, End the War!"

Christine Dorsey. Richmond.