Bipartisanthink and 'torture'
"The non-partisan Constitution Project has released a landmark 577-page report on U.S. interrogation and detention practices, which includes a frank assesment of the effect political diction has had on the news media's use of the word "torture."
The Constitution Project's eleven-member task force states that it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture." Since 2001, the CIA has waterboarded detainees, slammed them into walls, and forced them to stay awake for days. But while the task force is unequivocal in labeling these methods as "torture," it notes that many journalists often refrain from doing so because some government officials insist the methods do not warrant the label.
"The question as to whether U.S. forces and agents engaged in torture has been complicated by the existence of two vocal camps in the public debate. This has been particularly vexing for traditional journalists who are trained and accustomed to recording the arguments of both sides in a dispute without declaring one right and the other wrong," the report states. "The public may simply perceive that there is no right side, as there are two equally fervent views held views on a subject, with substantially credentialed people on both sides. In this case, the problem is exacerbated by the fact that among those who insist that the United States did not engage in torture are figures who served at the highest levels of government, including Vice President Dick Cheney."
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/?ml=bl_db