Associated Press
Why AP Media Bias Deserves High Level of Scrutiny
The Associated Press has historically been considered the "gold standard" of objective journalism. It operates a wire service, meaning local and national news organizations around the country use AP's content to fill gaps in their coverage. That means AP news content has extremely wide impact and reach.
As such, AllSides does particularly extensive analysis of AP. When AP displays political bias, or fails to portray political events, legislation, and perspectives in a balanced and even-handed way, the impact is broad and far-reaching. A media outlet that is relied upon by outlets all over the country deserves a high level of scrutiny when it comes to political bias.
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(AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, Pool)
The top U.S. military officer told Congress on Tuesday that he knew former President Donald Trump wasn’t planning to attack China and that it was his job to reassure the Chinese of that fact in phone calls that have triggered outrage from some lawmakers.
Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, delivered a full-throated defense of two calls he made to his Chinese counterpart, saying he was responding to “concerning intelligence” that China was worried about a U.S. attack.
“I know, I am certain, that President Trump did not intend to attack the Chinese and it was my directed responsibility to convey presidential orders and intent,” Milley told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. “My task at that time was to de-escalate. My message again was consistent: Stay calm, steady, and de-escalate. We are not going to attack you.”
Milley has been at the center of a firestorm amid reports he made two calls to Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army to assure him that the United States was not going to suddenly go to war with or attack China. Details of the calls were first aired in excerpts from the recently released book “Peril” by Washington Post journalists Bob Woodward and Robert Costa.