From the Gulf War to Central America, journalists are failing to report the whole truth, two critics of the media said Sunday.

Sociology Professor Kay Forest and Fred Morris, pastor of the Malta United Methodist Church, spoke to a 50-member audience about disinformation and the U.S. media.

Forest said there is only the “illusion of free speech” in America. She said the government limits free speech by setting up barriers and limiting questions being asked.

President Bush limited media coverage by referring to Iraq’s attack on Kuwait as an act of “naked aggression”, she said. This limits the possibility of questioning Iraq’s intentions and motives, she said.

“When great powers use force, it’s (called) ‘protecting their interests’, when little powers use force it’s ‘naked aggression’,” she said.

“I’m not saying he’s (Saddam Hussein) a good guy. But the press portrays him as crazy—he’s not crazy,” she said.

Forest studied Gulf issues in the New York Times and found articles that suggested rising tension between Iraq and Kuwait two weeks before the invasion occurred.

Hussein had legitimate complaints against Kuwait, she said.

For almost 20 years, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates had been violating Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ agreements not to overproduce oil. In the past two years Kuwait started seriously overproducing, she said.

By overproducing, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates were causing oil prices to go down, she said.

In addition, Kuwait was asking for $10 billion Iraq owed Kuwait, she said. Iraq could not repay the loan because oil prices had dropped, she said.

Forest said much has been said of the unfairness of Iraq’s 1 million forces against Kuwait’s 20,000 forces, but she said the United States invaded Grenada and Panama with overwhelming force.

Morris, who was a foreign correspondent in Central America, also said barriers exist both due to government controls and journalistic laziness.

In Central America, journalists generally allowed U.S. embassies to set the agenda, he said. Every morning journalists would go to the embassy and only report on what was on the agenda instead of exploring the country for news, he said.

Newspaper editors also tend to accept Washington’s version of a story before their own reporters’ eyewitness accounts, he said.

“Washington does not want an informed public and it does not have an informed public,” he said. “We Americans are so naive, we give them the benefit of the doubt.”