Media / Media Bias

Toronto Star sanitizes U.S. deserter

by arthur Weinreb, associate Editor,

December 10, 2004

While covering the hearing of 26-year-old Jeremy Hinzman, who is seeking refugee status in Canada after deserting from the U.S. army when his unit was scheduled to go to Iraq, the Star’s Tracey Tyler left out any facts that were negative to Hinzman. Her report on the proceedings contained only the facts that Hinzman felt that the Iraq war was not justified because no weapons of mass destruction were found and there were no links to terrorism and therefore, in his opinion, he had no justification for killing people. Tyler also threw in the fact that the poor little trained infantry dear was afraid to go to jail for desertion (for which the maximum penalty is 5 years) because in his words, "I’d be afraid of taking a shower in prison." It seems when it comes to bathing in the big house, this guy is no Martha Stewart.

Tyler left out every fact that came out at the hearing that tended to show Hinzman did not have a well founded fear of persecution. accounts of Hinzman’s refugee hearing in the other three Toronto papers made reference to some or all of the following facts:

• Hinzman joined the army because he wanted to go to university, but could not afford it. If he had served 4 years in the army he would have been eligible for benefits of approximately $40,000 to pay for his education.
• He didn’t just join the army and hope never to see combat. He applied for and was accepted in the elite Ranger School. He also requested an airborne regiment and was assigned to the 82^nd airborne, thereby

increasing his chances of being involved in combat.

• He had applied for conscientious objector status on two occasions and was turned down both times. His applications were denied because he had said that he would take up arms and kill if his family or his unit came under attack.
• He applied for conscientious objector status rather than for a discharge from the army because he was hoping to stay on as a "medic, truck driver, cook or administrator," presumably because he wanted funding for his university education.

Tyler’s report shows not only her bias but the bias of the Toronto Star.

The piece, by leaving out any negative facts that tend to show that Jeremy Hinzman is anything but a victim of an immoral war, turns what should have been a hard news story into an editorial against the war in Iraq. and by not reporting the negative facts, the article gives readers the impression that as far as the Immigration and Refugee Board is concerned, there is no other side.