Project for Excellence in Journalism

Tortured Debate Online

May 21, 2009

The polarizing issue of what defines torture dominated social media last week, marking the third time since the beginning of April that the subject has been among the top-two weekly stories in the blogosphere. From May 11-15, almost a quarter of the links (23%) on blogs and social media sites related to the debate over harsh interrogation techniques, according to the New Media Index from the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The commentary online spread across two main areas of debate: Whether harsh interrogation techniques help keep the country safe, as former Vice President Dick Cheney has repeatedly suggested in a series of media interviews, and whether President Obama should release photographs of reported abuse of prisoners.

In the latter case, Obama experienced somewhat rare criticism from left-leaning bloggers who were disappointed with his decision not to release photographs involving U.S. soldiers and their prisoners.

Beyond the issue of torture, last week's most discussed topics online were a diverse mix ranging from remarks by a Saudi judge to the White House Correspondents' Dinner to health care reform.

The second-largest story online, with 11% of the links, was a CNN report that quoted a Saudi Arabian judge saying it was okay for husbands to slap their wives if they spend too lavishly. The comment was universally condemned online with many bloggers connecting it to other examples of the mistreatment of women in that country.

The third-most-linked-to story took a somewhat lighter tone, the May 9 White House Correspondents' Association dinner (10%) where President Obama performed his first comedic monologue as commander in chief to mostly positive reviews. Some bloggers, however, felt Obama had reacted inappropriately to controversial jokes told by the mistress of ceremonies, comedienne Wanda Sykes.

Fourth (at 8%) was a report on Foxnews.com about the Andersons, a family living in Chicago that decided to patronize only black-owned businesses for a year as an "Empowerment Experiment."

Health care policy and Obama's May 11 health care summit rounded out the top five (7% of links). Some of the discussion revolved around a May 10 New York Times column by Paul Krugman applauding insurance companies' willingness to participate in discussions about reforming the system. Social media also focused on a May 8 report in the Los Angeles Times that claimed the Obama administration was threatening to rescind stimulus money earmarked for California if wage cuts to unionized health care workers were not restored.

Two of the week's top-five stories matched up in both the traditional press and social media -- terrorism and interrogation techniques (22% in the mainstream press) and health care policy (6%). The other top stories in the mainstream press were the economic crisis (at 12% of the newshole), further troubles for the U.S. car manufacturers General Motors and Chrysler (5%) and continued developments in the war in Afghanistan (4%).

These are some of the findings of the PEJ's New Media Index for the week of May 11-15, an effort to monitor the content appearing in new media platforms. The full methodology is described below, but this week, due to recurring technical problems with Technorati, the data comes primarily from Icerocket. (Data from Technorati was only available Monday, May 11, and Tuesday, May 12. The page was not functioning properly for the remainder of the week.)

Torture and Interrogation

The discussion among bloggers of U.S.-interrogation techniques evolved with the story last week.

One focus was a Washington Post story on May 10 that included a suggestion that the Obama administration might declassify a 2004 CIA report. According to sources, the secret report detailed apparent excesses in interrogation procedures used against some prisoners who were not withholding information.

Some bloggers contrasted the Post report with statements made by former Vice President Dick Cheney who previously called for the release of other classified documents which he claimed would prove that harsh interrogations helped protect the country.

"Despite Richard Cheney's rather bizarre reemergence -- after being wrong about almost everything, he is now expects us to believe him about how to protect ourselves -- the best evidence appears to be that torture gave the U.S. little good intelligence, and very little that might not have been gained through other methods," wrote blogger Doug Bandow.*

"So, according to a report by the Inspector General of the CIA ..." seconded Jim Johnson at the blog (Notes on) Politics, Theory & Photography, "the torture policies that Dick Cheney desperately is trying to defend as both legally defensible and efficacious (in terms of generating 'intelligence' that proved useful in making Americans more secure -- whatever that means) turn out to have been neither. No surprise there."

Even more online commentary ensued after Obama announced on May 13 that he had reversed his decision and would no longer support the release of photographs that showed U.S. prisoner abuse in Afghanistan and Iraq. The president found himself in unfamiliar territory as many liberal bloggers expressed outrage at the move.

"It's always disappointing to see someone you like do something you don't like," declared blogger Poljunk. "As much as I like President Obama, I voted for him knowing full well that he would occasionally disappoint ... For the moment, the decision to try to withhold the photos makes the Obama Administration a sort of passive co-conspirator with the Bush Administration in an attempt to keep the truth in the dark."

"Refusing to release the rest of the prison abuse photos is the probably the first big dissappointment Obama's delivered," added Nik at the blog Gheby. "These were actions by the US government, and by extension the US people, and I for one want to know what was done in my name."

Conservative bloggers felt the specific decision was the right one, although they still criticized the White House for changing positions, or as it is often called, flip-flopping.

"President Obama appears to be flipping on whether the White House will release the pictures of ‘abuse' that they have been threatening for weeks," wrote Neoavatara. "Someone, apparently one of the few adults in the administration, realized that this would endanger our servicemen overseas. Well, duh. Right wing pundits have been screaming this for months."

"This adoption of Bush policies opposed by Obama on the campaign trail appears to be a developing habit," argued John Allison, III at the website America, You Asked For It! "Keep your fingers crossed and maybe he'll adopt one more and keep Gitmo open since no other country seems to want the abused terror suspects and we certainly don't want them here. Okay, that may be too much wishful thinking."

Saudi Judge Comment

On May 10, CNN.com issued a report about a story in the Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper, which quoted a Saudi judge as saying that a husband could slap their wives if they spent too lavishly. The judge, according to the paper, used a hypothetical example of a husband giving money to his wife to purchase an abaya -- a black cover that women in Saudi Arabia are required to wear -- only to have the wife spend more than the husband had intended. The remark quickly circulated among bloggers, sparking widespread condemnation.

"So, to put a value on how much a woman can spend on an item of clothing she's required to wear and give her husband carte blanche to decide it's frivolous is beyond whacked out to me," suggested Chele Neisler at the blog Moms Love Shopping. "I hope that someday all women of the world will be given the same rights as their male companions and at the very least be treated with respect and valued."

"Isn't it ironic that a woman can be punished for spending too much money on a garment that they are forced to wear to authenticate their status as secondary citizens in a patriarchal society," pointed out the blogger Womanist Musings.

Obama and the White House Correspondents' Dinner

When Obama tried his hand at humor at the May 9 White House Correspondents' Dinner, he generated a number of positive, even gushing, reviews.

"America's premier entertainer-in-chief Barack Obama did not disappoint at Washington's annual Nerd Prom also known as the White House Correspondents' Dinner this past Saturday night," critiqued the blog Democralypse Now. "There, this strange man calling himself Barack Obama and claiming to be the president, brought the 2,500-3,000-strong (depending on who you ask) journalist-and-celeb-filled house down with wit, charm, and enough zingers to go around."

"He's got better writers than John Stewart," complimented the blog Vox Popoli.

The president's laughter at Wanda Sykes' attack on conservative radio talkmaster Rush Limbaugh, which included her professed desire to see his kidneys fail, received a much more mixed reaction.

"What a low class way to behave," disapproved blogger BluegrassBulletin. "Then again, what should we expect from a second rate community organizer from the south side of Chicago."

"Since when are comedians or anybody else suppose to tiptoe around Limbaugh?" asked blogger Talking Stuff. "Especially after all the hate he spews towards others? Do they bitch and moan about his everyday routine on the radio including his mocking of Michael J. Fox?"

For more on the New Media Index, including the week's top YouTube videos, see journalism.org.

*For the sake of authenticity, PEJ has a policy of not correcting misspellings that appear in direct quotes from blog postings.