News Busters: Star Tribune makes Somali missing men look like characters in West Side Story

I had noticed that the Minneapolis Star Tribune coverage of the missing Somali men was a little sugary, but I realized that I have become so accustomed to mainstream media outlets soft-peddling terrorism that I didn’t give it another thought until a reader sent me this analysis at News Busters which begins:

It reads like the lyrics of the song in West Side Story where the “Jets” gang members sing to Officer Krupke claiming they are just misunderstood kids, not punks and criminals. The Minneapolis Star Tribune takes this approach to the story of young male Somali refugees that have taken residence in Minneapolis who have decided to go back to Somalia to “visit.” The suspicion is, though, that are they going back to join terrorist gangs there. The Star Trib claims they absolutely are not in its coverage, however. Yet, for some unexplained reason, the Star Trib also leaves out the fact that Somali recruiters have been seen roaming the streets of Minneapolis encouraging Somali men to return for just that purpose, as well as other important details linking the “visits” with terrorism.

Why would the Star Trib leave out such important facts in the story?

Continue reading.

I suppose it is the same reason that Matthew Lee at AP won’t investigate the unhappy Iraqi refugee issue, it doesn’t fit the reporters or the news outlets view of the world.