This Saturday, January 21 at 7pm, the local ABC affiliate WZZM 13 will air a 1 hour special, “Class 186: The Making of a Marine Officer,” a program that has been heavily promoted this week by WZZM 13. From the clips shown on WZZM 13 and on the Class 186 website, it is clear that the program, which takes viewers through boot camp, an obstacle course, graduation, and even rifle school, will act as little more than a 1-hour special program that will act as a recruiting tool for the military by emphasizing the “patriotism” of the recruits profiled. The program was produced by Marine Times, a newspaper owned by WZZM 13’s parent company, Gannett, a media company owning a large number of newspapers and television stations. The program, which is being heavily promoted on Gannett’s television stations (for example on stations in Tampa Bay, Phoenix, and Jacksonville), has already been aired on Gannett stations across the country. Gannett sees nothing wrong with this cross promotion of its products across mediums and even went so far as to give the managing editor of Marine Times, a special recognition award for his work producing the program. According to the award press release, the program was distributed to all Gannett stations for airing.

While WZZM 13 and its parent company Gannett are willing to devote an hour of time to a program unquestioningly promoting the military, WZZM 13’s coverage of the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been similar with a study by the Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) finding almost no critical coverage of current US military policy. Similarly, during the 90-day study period there were only a few stories that included any anti-war voices during the 90-day study period. In light of the GRIID study and the blatant pro-military special that WZZM 13 is running, we encourage people to contact the station. It might be an instructive exercise to call and ask them if they will run a 1-hour special that features anti-war voices working on counter-recruitment efforts or one that takes a critical look at the Iraq War. It might also be interesting to ask them to explain why they decided to run this special and if Marine Times is paying for it to air. If so, it is important to point out that any and all advertising or videos produced by the US Military are subsidized by US taxpayers. If US tax payers are paying for it to air on channel 13, then the can sure provide free airtime for an opposing view point. WZZM 13’s News Director is Tim Geraghty who can be reached at 616-785-1313 or tgeraght@wzzm.gannett.com.

For their part, GRIID will be recording the show to have a copy available in their library, but will also conduct an analysis of the show that will be posted online on their News Dissection page. Anyone interested in taking any additional action are encouraged to attend next week’s screening of the film Fallujah that will feature a post-screening strategizing session for local antiwar actions.