Today the Associated Press released a story with the following headline:

Thousands at burials of returned Israeli soldiers

Seeing this headline, what would your first thoughts be? The normal reaction would probably be something like "Oh, those poor Israeli soldiers and their families" or "Those nasty Arabs, look what they have done!" You would recognize the tragedy, and it is indeed a tragedy, and then as humans normally do, you would look for someone to blame and hold resposible. We always look for the victim and perpetrator.  And of course the perpetrator is always the embodiment of evil.

This headline immediately encapsulates in the consciousness of the reader who the victim is, and, because we are all aware of the "war on terror," who the perpetrator is. Online and in the newspaper, that one headline shown over and over to millions of people becomes the only truth without question. This is how cunning and lop-sided typical news reporting is in the US.

If  the reader even took the time to go on to the body of the story - after having his mind impacted by the bolded headline and a biased conclusion thus formed - the reader would be exposed to the following first paragraph:

"NAHARIYA, Israel - Thousands of mourners turned out Thursday for the burials of two Israeli soldiers returned in a prisoner exchange with Lebanese guerrillas, laying to rest the young men whose unknown fate had riveted the Jewish state for two years."

Between the headline and this first paragraph, the media has you where they want you. They have shaped your sympathy towards one side and condemnation towards the other. Mission accomplished. 

however, I continued to read the article and was surprised to finally discover the "other" side of the story:

"Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser's remains were returned by Hezbollah Wednesday in exchange for five Lebanese prisoners and the remains of some 200 Arab fighters."

WHAT??? Two deceased Israeli soldiers were exchanged for the remains of 200 ARAB FIGHTERS??? Why was THAT not in the headline? 200 dead Arab fighters is not more newsworthy than 2 Israeli soldiers? Yes, this is "unbiased" journalism at its best.

If this is not a clear example of some sort of agenda to keep the public uninformed then we must be all blind. Bear in mind, it easier to walk a blind man willingly to the edge of a cliff than a shackled man with eyes.