• September 14, 2006

Top Democratic leaders are complaining to network and cable television news executives that their party is getting short shrift in national security news stories. "Until now, there has been a complete absence of balance in the news coverage of national security issues," House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in letters sent to top news executives at NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News Channel and CNN. The letters cited President Bush's prime-time speech Monday night as an example, saying the president continues to inaccurately link 9/11 to the war in Iraq. They called on the networks to represent the Democrats' point of view. "House and Senate leaders hold frequent press conferences and briefings on a wide variety of national security issues," the party leaders wrote. "Most of these receive scant coverage, even when offering specific alternatives to administration policies."