Katie Couric, CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor, has begun a series on immigration issues, taking a hard anti-immigrant slant. The Evening News feature, titled: Illegal immigrant births at your expense, looks at undocumented immigrant mothers who give birth in the U.S., thus making their new born children American citizens.
The feature offered no counter balance on why women would choose to have their children born in the United States, if they have a choice at all. It's interesting that the reporter offered little expert advice, asking questions that create a bias view against immigrants to interviewees who have very little ethos in giving any real authoritative answer. Too, the logic behind the Texas congressman, who is looking to abolish the 14th Amendment, frightens me. It makes the U.S. sound almost authoritarian on who can and can't be a U.S. citizen. We might as well take down the Statue of Liberty and sell its guts for scrap metal.
It's sad that Couric now seems to be fighting for Lou Dobbs' audience. CBS has historically saught older viewers. But I thought part of her placement was to bring in a younger audience during a time when the major networks were all going through nightly news turnover. I had such great hopes for Couric during the weeks leading up to her first CBS show. But now, I feel as though she's crossed a line of journalistic integrity, leaning toward the editorial likings of conservative hard liners, than representing a voice for liberty and equality.
From a values standing, the broadcast media remains a messaging machine that rides over the "Peoples airwaves. Unlike print media, which covers such a wide range of editorial messages, there should be an obligation for broadcast journalism to uphold the community values of our country. In couric's case, the goal is, obviously, intended to divide middle-of-the-road Americans against the millions of immigrants who come here looking for a beter life.
It will be interesting to see how the rest of this series plays out. This feature was edited to make it seem like women came here for the soul purpose of giving birth to their children on U.S. soil. It didn't dare to dive deeper into the hardships that billions--not millions, but billions--face each day, and focus on the dangerous journey for opportunity that only a small percentage of these billions of humans risk taking. The chances are good that children born in many countries outside the U.s. have a greater chance of dying.
Feel free to visit CBS Evening News and post comments letting Couric know that she should tell the rest of the story.
