Twitter
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Delicious
Digg
Newsvine
Google
Yahoo
TechnoratiMcClellan and the 'Enablers'
For all the press attention swirling around Scott McClellan's explosive tell-all, there's a brewing back story that's making Katie Couric and Charles Gibson squirm. And they're not alone.
Few were surprised that McClellan's book exposed a Bush administration "political propaganda campaign" that mislead the American public about the war in Iraq. Some question the former press secretary's loyalty and timing, but no one -- with the obvious exception of the White House and its apologists -- questions the factual basis of his claim.
But McClellan takes it one further, implicating mainstream media for its role in "enabling" this propaganda. "The national press corps was probably too deferential to the White House" in spreading the president's case for the war, McClellan writes. The mainstream media didn't live up to its watchdog reputation. "If it had, the country would have been better served."
This should be a shock to everyone. The president's own spokesman (whose hands aren't clean by any means) lays a large share of the blame for Bush's pro-war propaganda on the media's "deferential" treatment of White House spin.
Still, many in the media refuse to admit that they were anything but dogged in challenging the White House's case for the war after September 11. Some, however, are starting to see things differently.
Media Culpa?
Thursday night, CBS anchor Katie Couric confronted McClellan' during an interview. She claimed that, while still at NBC, she asked a tough question about the Iraq war and was rebuffed by McClellan. According to Couric, the press secretary then called one of her bosses and threatened to deny her future access to the White House press gaggle.
But earlier Couric told her colleagues on the CBS News Early Show that McClellan's indictment of a complicit media is "a very legitimate allegation."
"I think it's one of the most embarrassing chapters in American journalism," she said. "And I think there was a sense of pressure from corporations who own where we work and from the government itself to really squash any kind of dissent or any kind of questioning of it. I think it was extremely subtle but very, very effective."
On Wednesday night, CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin said that network executives at MSNBC had pushed her not to do hard-hitting pieces on the Bush administration as the nation readied for war.
"The press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation," Yellin told CNN's Anderson Cooper.
ABC News' Charles Gibson isn't admitting as much. "I think that the media did a pretty good job of focusing and asking the questions," he said. "It was just a drum beat from the government, and I think it's convenient now to blame the media, but I don't," he added. (This from the same anchor who called his questioning during ABC's now infamous April 16 debate "tough and intelligent").
It's the System, Stupid
It's telling that mainstream journalists are in a quandary over the role their media organizations played to "enable" propaganda, and whether they individually are indeed a part of the problem. Many genuinely are trying to do their jobs but are constrained by a corporate structure that promotes reporters with cozy access to political and economic power, while discouraging those whose questions and investigative reporting might rock the boat.
The roots of the problem extend beyond the performance of one or another reporter to a news industry that allows itself to be manipulated and cajoled by dishonest leadership. "Too many media outlets continue to tell the politically and economically powerful, 'Lie to me!'" write Bob McChesney and John Nichols in a Nation op-ed to be published next week.
According to McChesney and Nichols, responsible journalists have little say in setting the lead stories for large outlets. "The calls are being made by consultants and bean counters, who increasingly rely on official sources and talking-head pundits rather than news-gathering or serious debate."
The Situation Right Now
For all of their posturing, the Courics and Gibsons of the network newscasts are the fading faces of a system that's perilously broken. It's not just reflected in the declining audience for traditional news formats, but in the issues that they cover -- and those that they choose to ignore.
This gathering problem can no longer be shrugged off by prominent members of the media.
McClellan's memoir comes on the heels of an April 20 New York Times exposé, which revealed an extensive -- and likely illegal -- Pentagon program to recruit pro-war "military analysts" for nearly every major news outlet in America. Many in the newsrooms knew of these pundits' ties to the Pentagon -- as well as their involvement in lucrative military contracts -- but didn't bother to reveal the obvious conflicts of interest to their viewers.
While the story received scant coverage in the mainstream media, more than 100,000 activists have written their members of Congress to urge an investigation into the media's role in spreading pro-war propaganda. Bloggers and independent media are also still covering this issue, refusing to let Big Media off the hook
Congress has promised to investigate the Pentagon's role in the scandal, but it shouldn't end there. People should demand more of the companies that assume the mantle of journalism, but fall far short of its ideals.
Our democracy is in peril when mainstream media fail to question the official view and put the interests of ordinary Americans first.
This watchdog role is especially critical during a time of war and elections -- the time that we're in right now.
As the Campaign Director for Free Press and SavetheInternet.com, Karr oversees campaigns on public broadcasting and noncommercial media, fake news and propaganda, journalism in crisis, and the future of the Internet. Before joining Free Press, Tim served as executive director of MediaChannel.org and vice president of Globalvision New Media and the Globalvision News Network.
© 2008 Huffington Post
23 Comments so far
Show AllI haven't watched network news since Dan Rather was on and that wasn't very much. When he was banished for taking the Rovian bait in '04 that was it for me. "60 Minutes" still does some gutsy pieces that don't toe the Bush Line, but they don't seem to have the clout of days past.
For one who graduated journalism school in '72, the year of Watergate, the demise of the Fourth Estate over the past 20 years has been gutwrenching. The Iraq invasion shows what happens when journalists become jingoists. It used to be said "truth is the first casualty of war" but truth in the Iraq debacle is a daily casualty. And it's getting worse. Half truths, lies, spins, and non-reporting of key issues has become commonplace during this Bush administration. The Watergate Era looks bittersweet by comparison: It showed American journalism at its best, an outraged middle class and the legitimate political means--through our Constitution--to rid ourselves of presidency run amok. Today, a compromised Press, a largely uninformed and apathetic public and a complicit congress has devolved us into Banana Republic status.
How can we reverse this direction? Here are some suggestions:
--Change administrations to a Democrat next year. Even you hardcore skeptics in your heart of hearts must agree that Obama or Clinton would be better than the alternative.
--Vote more Democrats into the Senate and House. The tide simply has to shift.
--Repeal the Telecommunications Act of 1996 or at least amend it to bust up the major news corporations. Disallow any corporation from owning more than one broadcast and print medium in any market. Make all existing media conglomerates divest of their assets accordingly within three years (just like Ma Bell in the 80's). Continue to enforce the law so the Murdoch and Time-Warner types don't rise again.
--Reinstitute the Fairness Doctrine: Call it what you want but remember from 1948 to 1988 the Press was definitely more "fair and balanced."
--Reconstitute the Federal Communications Commission: Make it two from academia; two from retired public servants; two college students and one from the private sector. All would be appointed by the President and reviewed by the Senate but corporate influence likely would be diminished.
--Separate facts from commentary: Make pundits substantiate what they say. Some may charge this violates freedom of speech but such freedom does not allow for deception, obfuscation, libel and lies. A few high-profile lawsuits should separate legitimate journalists from cynical muckrakers. Make fact checking the norm...again.
--Start teaching civics and social studies again: It's no wonder we have such a complacent, ill-informed middle America today. Most of the sub-40 public is detached from government because most were never shown the tools of self-governance nor learned the duties and rewards of being a citizen in a participatory democracy. We espouse to be the leaders of the Free World but the last seven years has shown us to be a frighteningly compliant nation of sheep.
@JBPeebles May 31st, 2008 9:10 pm
I read your blog. It is all true. The last time I put up my opinions on a web page was in 2003 The headline read:- "Did you fail to learn the following by reading or listening to the news". Try my home link.
ANYONE who bothered to do more than swallow the conventional wisdom whole could have
known. The fact that almost NOBODY in the MSM told the truth either means that their either blindly regurgitate the propaganda they are given without understanding any of it OR they knew it was BS and kept mum, which amounts, in my book to lying. Having said that, I do understand that keeping your job is number 1. Everybody had to choose between their career or their honesty. The same goes for Scott McClellan, whose first real opportunity to be honest is the day when he quit, because doing it before that date would certainly have meant the end of his career.
What it all means, is that having the media in the hands of the corporatocracy is almost worse than having none at all.
There should be one share in ownership of a given media for every 100 readers or viewers, and if one person comes to own more than one share, the second one becomes invalid, and another gets sold again by a government media agency in its place. That way, ownership of the media would at least be distributed.
"It's The System Stupid."
No it isn't, that's a lie. People make up the system!!! Bad people, bad system. Individual people are responsible. They either stand up or they don't. Few did. I have only disdain for Gibson, Couric, Williams, and ..... They are like traitors who consorted with the enemies of democracy. I condemn them for their cowardly participation.
"fast losing credibility"? What the? The MSM lost their credibility in the 70's, about the time of Shogun and the oil crisis. Where the hell have you been? It's more blatant now, but this has been in the works for almost 40 years.
Samson May 31st, 2008 1:36 pm
Don't bother 'demanding' anything from these corporations. They won't listen. You don't solve this problem with a 'letter to the editor'.
Actually, Samson, that is exactly how to solve the problem.
Your neighbors and the people in your community are all waiting for someone on their side to say something. They are waiting for someone to speak out. Turning off the TV is only the first step. The next step is to stop giving your power (money, life energy, etc. to the corporations). The next is to turn on your power to open your mouthes and speak out!
Action by individual citizens is the ONLY, the ONE AND ONLY, thing that will change things.
The American people have been cowed and silent for many years. How's it working for us so far?
MAKE SOME GODDAMN NOISE, WON'T YOU?!
Great commentary on this book. Yes, it's a non-story to everyone except those were selling, or bought into, the intelligence mistake narrative. Will revelations on 9/11 shatter the Official Explanation in a similar way?
Congress does reserve criticism, but remember they were vulnerable to the same propaganda dispersed through the MSM.
Launching the Iraq war was a victory for the neocons as they quite clearly knew how hard it would be to get out once we started. (I hear some cold water on a tomcat's back will get them to stop, is there some similar remedy to get our armies to pull out?)
Congress is a bunch of weak old white men with love of the status quo. So inept are they that they've forgotten the failure of Vietnam, and are caught up in the fake support the troops argument to the point they can't stomach withdrawal.
I'm one of the bloggers "still covering this issue, refusing to let Big Media off the hook." See my post on this issue, McClellan Squeals.
MSM might give this a bit of time and coverage, just so they can say they "covered" the story. But, it will be business as usual by next week in the news business. They'll be back to covering the irrelevant and presenting the news in the proper light, with the proper inflection to suit their corporate owners. As long as the news is sponsored and owned by corporate conglomerates who require that it be revenue producing, we are unlikely to see a return to real journalism. Want info? Go to the internet.
Ambergris May 31st, 2008 4:47 pm
Thanks, you mentioned:
"The media did not ask or tell us how many other nations had plans or hopes to acquire nukes. Brazil had a nuke program assisted by Germans..." Good point, I wasn't aware.
I recommend this blog, Peebles brings up some excellent points, I'll quote just one:
http://jbpeebles.blogspot.com/2008/05/mcclellan-squeals.html
Who wanted war? There was a reason for the collusion between Zionist, Right-leading media moguls and the Bush administration. This relationship has been based on a quid pro quo based on the FCC deregulating limits on media ownership in exchange for less negative coverage appearing in the news.
FVHorn May 31st, 2008 5:21 pm
Nice point:
"And the press should be definitely firewalled from any political and any commercial pressure"
What I like about CD is that the posts are as enlightening as the articles themselves, and sometimes more.
This is news? Anyone with half a brain knows the MSM was been complicit in the implementation of all of the Bush administration's disastrous policies. If the disingenuous Mr. McClellan and all of the news anchors were willing to have "I am a moron. I believed George Bush" tattooed on their foreheads I might cut them a little slack.
Questions most always devolve into yes or no. In political questions it devolves to two sides, the ruling party and the 'loyal opposition'. The MSM want to be on the 'winning' side, like most Americans have now been trained to do via professional sports with its games of meaningless, pointless victors and losers within a permanent unchanging construction of rules that have absolutely no relevance to real life. See George Bush for an archtype.
The MSM now desperately want to be with the IN crowd, like most follower types, and are in fact PAID to be so. So in fact they will not question the 'winners' and people in power, no matter how nefarious and mendacious, or no matter how incredibly utterly stupid and nonsensical.
But the profound Founders of this nation devised the Press to be THE Watchdog of the Watchers, called the government, to be ALWAYS the loyal OPPOSITION. Any journalist worthy of the name should be FEARED by the ruling class. They should NEVER be 'friends'. They should never be toadies to anyone, not even the generals and 'the troops' ("support the troops" = sieg heil!).
This concept ticks-off the Hard Right, NeoCons and Republicans to no end, whose dullard fascist minds cannot grasp the concept the Founders did so long ago, that humans are NOT TO BE TRUSTED WITH POWER, EVER, and should be examined always for signs of megalomania. The Corpo-Fascist Right WANTS the media to simply be Stenographers to their (they think ideal) dictatorships. They really HATE the Constitution and Bill of Rights (see Ann Coulter, Limbaugh, et al). And so they argue, how dare the MSM or anyone question the Corpo-Fascist President, who after all, IS YOUR BOSS! And ipso facto must be smarter, gooder, and more better informed than you, peon!
But the WH Press Room DOES NOT BELONG to the President, but to THE PEOPLE. No Press Secretary should be able to deny access due to politics or "the wrong questions". There are none.
And the Press Secretary should not be working and spinning for the President, but should really be working for the Press, to get information from within the WH. The salary is paid by THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, NOT paid by the President. The Press Secretary should work THE OTHER WAY AROUND! If the Pres just wants a PR guy, let the PREZ pay for it. Yet another invasion of the corrupt corporate way that has insidiously intruded itself into our government.
And the MSM controllers and anchors are INSIDERS with the RICH classes these days, so they eagerly bend over for the Propaganda to be Catapaulted into them. They have no resistance to the 'authorities' and the 'official story'. Their interests have bcome those of the ruling class.
As Colbert would say, the WH Press Corps and its enablers have become 'stenographers' to power. They only do "she said, he said" stenography, they do not search for the TRUTH. The WH Press has become a pool of degenerates, really because they are threatened with termination and destitution by the capitalist oligarchy that absolutely owns their asses, through ownership of the presses and broadcast licenses, if they stray. And the oligarchy gives much to them, including life iteslf, if the masters are served.
But what to do? Mass media demands mass money. The machineries of propagation are expensive. That is why capitalist billionaire investor Warren Buffet likes media monopolies. The ticket to compete is impossibly expensive. The Internet has salvaged something, but this has not become the Mass Propagated Story.
Perhaps Parties themselves should be done away with, to prevent the corrosive infuluence of big money. All private money for Poltical elections should be made illegal. Only free debates and press reportage should be allowed. The Fair Election Program and nothing else should apply. And perhaps a draft like that of the court jury system should be used to pick citizens for office, for general decisions that will be then be aptly served by a professional class in the government with competence and objectivity. This was the suggestion of more than one of the Founders.
And the press should be definitely firewalled from any political and any commercial pressure. Reporters and journalists should have some sort of tenure to protect them from these pressures. Or we will definitely not get the truth, but just the "truth" of the highest bidders and most powerful, who usually turn out to be the most corrupt, vicious, devious, greedy and self-serving among us. Kinda like we have now.
Tailcap:
you offer a series of very good questions and comments:
Anyone who was paying attention should have known that Iraq posed no threat to the US and no threat to its neighbors. Sure Saddam might have wanted nukes, and I would like a new Rolls, but neither were going to happen. The media did not ask or tell us how many other nations had plans or hopes to acquire nukes. Brazil had a nuke program assisted by Germans, but chose to end it with a new administration. The media rolled over and failed to inform the American public again and again. The media is the main root cause killing effective democracy in America. After high school, the media is the source of information and citizen intelligence for voters. It has been purchased by those who want to use if for propaganda and manipulation. Unless corporations are removed from media control, we are totally screwed, "1984" style. Each major media, tv networks, stations and radio should be divested from their owners and placed in public control as stock companies, with each citizen owning a share. In the whole scheme of things, it would be cheap to buy it, we are already paying much more for misinformation.
Congress is amazing. It appears that nearly all republicans are lock step with the administration, I wonder what the Rove/Cheney/Bushies hold over their heads. Many Democrats are also in step with the republicans, with only about 1/2 of democrats independent from the republicans. Perhaps we should announce the creation of a Fascist party and identify the republican and democratic congress critters that seem to be secret members of it. Since the founding of America, there have been many individuals who distrust and dislike the idea of democracy with law making and taxing power in the hands of ordinary, not rich folks, and that is still true today. Social Security was founded as a result of democracy in action and it is hated by those who prefer to have available a large number of destitute people willing to work for any pittance.
Almost every member of congress knew as well as you and I that the war was based on a sham, a pack of lies, and since they did not have to sacrifice anything, they went along with it. For the rest of their lives, tens of thousands of American soldiers and their families will be suffering with the injuries done them by this devious, criminally inspired war. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi and other middle eastern people helplessly suffer even more. The entire congress with the exception of Ron Paul and Kucinich and a couple others should be fined their total worth as compensation for the injured and then jailed or forced to do bedpan duty in American and Iraqi hospitals for the rest of their lives, that includes Pelosi, Reed, Hassert, DeLay, and even the pretty good guys such as Barney Frank, and Ted Kennedy. All could have done more, over 4000 of our soldiers had all they had taken from them by congress, It would be impossible to punish congress too much.
Actually all the above plus media collaborators Gibson, Williams, Couric etc, should be sentenced to hang for committing the most serious crime on the books, but the sentence could be suspended and commutation considered if they complete enough years of bedpan and grave digging duty. I am not in favor of the death penalty, but since their leader, Mr. Bush and co are, we should respect his opinion and provide it to all of them.
Some people call the Iraq war a blunder or a mistake but those words are wrong, it is a calculated premeditated crime against peace, humanity and US Law. Bush and Cheney may have lead the charge, but they could not have done much with out the enablers in congress and in the media.
The media must be made functional, independent of corporations and dedicated to serving democracy otherwise we are headed toward a modern version of the middle ages with a small wealthy nobility and a lot of serfs.
I won't quite being an enrolled democrat, or republican, however because I want to be able to vote in the primary.
America's response to McCellan's book is to shoot the messenger. Of course this message is brought to you by corporate media, a case where it is good to shoot the messenger. Corporate media want us to talk about him, rather that what he said. The only thing McCellan is guilty of is opportunism, which isn't exactly a crime in our political and business institutions. McCellan has made himself a corner piece in the political puzzle that is playing out in D.C. and it will cost him. But what if McClellan were given fair mainstream coverage? Would it make any difference in our nation? Certainly not. The American people already know the truth and have demanded action over and over again. Congress already knows the truth and they do nothing. The thoughts and needs of the American people are ignored in favor of the wishes of corporate America. If Congress were actually listening to America, the political dialog would be about the war, taxes, medical care, immigration, and political reform. These are issues in which there is a clear gap between voter desire and congressional action. Looks like we enable the enablers.
Hoa binh
Much ado about nothing. All this brouhaha about a book in which the only really damaging claim is the Bush White House using propaganda to sell a war. We knew that when the Downing Street Minutes were leaked years ago.
Can you you imagine the uproar if a former Bush official had written a book with the REAL truth about this administration, the truth behind 911, the Cheney secret energy meetings, the authorization of torture and several other crimes?
Of course the author would be assassinated before he or she even attempted to have the book published.
The discredited fourth estate, A.K.A. MSM is certainly culpable. They should be reprimanded. But the constitution charges the third and supposedly equal branch of the government, the Congress, with declaring wars and funding them. The Congress is guilty of not doing their jobs, Democrats and Republicans alike.
Once it became clear the war was launched on a pack of lies it is the Democrats (Obama-Clinton included) who are to blame for continuing to fund it. 41 resolute Democrats could have derailed funding not the oft-quoted number 60 the Democrats would like you to believe. Besides they now have a majority in both houses- NO EXCUSE!
Come on, I am just an average Joe and I knew the whole march to war over WMD was bullshit. How could Obama, Clinton and the Democrats not have known? What the hell were they thinking when no WMD was found? Politicians always put getting elected over principles. In order for this to work a large number of voters need to buy in just as they are now. Oh the poor little Democrats can't stop the war or impeach Bush because Nancy Pelosi said so, so let's just vote for them again. What are they thinking?
It is clear for anyone who has eyes to see that the Democrats are not against the illegal war and occupation. Oh they do pay lip service in order to garner anti-war votes. If they were against the war why did so many of them in the Senate (70-26) just approve funds to continue the killing, pillaging and raping through 2009. When enough figure it out they may want to change their party affiliation to a 3rd party because there is no doubt the Democratic-Republican Party is all for the occupation. The occupation is making big money for: Big Oil, Big Profits Inc., Haliburton, KBR, Blackwater and an endless number of profit seekers.
When enough voters quit the Democrats maybe we can at least have a two party system instead of just one party with two factions. Go Greens!
If you watch MSM news, you will notice that it is often brought to you by prescription drug ads and financial services ads. THEY are the cream, and THEY are the drivers.
The silly notion that the celebrity anchors and the networks were going to defy Bush and the whole flag pin fraternity after 9/11 and enrage the sponsors is just that, a silly notion.
The real story is what McClellan is telling you, not the "back" story.
"Prostitution is an ugly profession in all its various forms!!!"
Please don't waste your tears on Rather. Look into his role in the release of the Zapruder film for a more thorough understanding of the rewards of prostitution.
Samson:
I tried the "contact us" venue over an obviously false report I saw on the msm news a few years back. I got a form letter telling me how they receive way too many comments to be able to actually read any of them...but thank for my comments (whatever the hell they were) and to keep watching NBC for the latest info and tips on proper thinking. You hit the nail resoundingly on its tiny little head.
These people are paid millions of dollars and have a vested interest in keeping the dough rolling in. With only a hanful of job places to apply, they cannot afford to piss off the corporate controllers who pay them. THEY HAVE SOLD OUT the very minute they assume their highly paid position. Dan Rather was the last old-time journalist and we saw what happened to him. He was set up. I firmly believe the records of Bush's military service were simply removed, re-typed on newer equipment and reinserted in the file. This would have facilitated confirmation by those who had signed off on these records thus causing Dan to go with the story. But scant moments after he had made his report, the Bush boys were showing the documents to be "false". This is what happens when you sell yourself and your integrity for money...they own you and when you fail to toe the line they throw you away!
I saw Tom Brokaw trying to cover his ass over McClellan's assertion about the press on the Today show. It was obscene. He patted himself on the back for his objectivity but if he had been so objective I sure didn't see it and I have a very good memory. Prostitution is an ugly profession in all its various forms!!! Money is truly the root of evil.
"In time this will probably generate massive civil unrest."
G3n3ral Stryck
The point is that the MSM is fast losing credibility. The uniformity in the reportage of official line on what is going on makes the news a sort of airport background music and irrelevant to peoples' lives. Their reportage is also so full of internal contradictions that it is hard to understand even what they are trying to say -- beyond the emotive name-calling of the "good" and the "bad". Those of us who do want to know get our news from the internet but those who havn't the time for this depend more and more on their own interpretations and rumour. In time this will probably generate massive civil unrest.
Don't bother 'demanding' anything from these corporations. They won't listen. You don't solve this problem with a 'letter to the editor'.
Turn them off. Let them see their ratings fall like a rock through water. Just turn them off.
These corporation news sources are clearly not legitimate news sources. By that I mean you simply can not trust them to fairly and honestly tell the truth. I'd say that's been obvious for sometime, but maybe more people will get it now. Help other people get that basic fact. These corporations are not 'informing', they are 'manipulating'.
The answer is just to turn them off. You can use parental blocking to completely block the corporate 24-hr propaganda channels. Personally, my life became better when I was no longer even casually seeing their bs by just channel surfing through them. There's fewer lies in my brain that I have to later correct.
Just turn them off.
MSM propaganda outlets in the TV broadcast realm have been steadily losing viewers. This is a very, very good thing. Look at Couric; America's sorority sister, the empty shell of a woman most middle class mothers want their sons to marry. Her ratings are dismal. Slowly but surely, the Courics, Williams' and Gibsons and the rest of the Vapid Response Team of the MSM TV Division are losing ground along with their newspaper brethren. There is a glimmer of hope there. The MSM has become something akin to those crummy carnivals you occasionally see setting up shop in the scuzzier part of town. They leave you feeling dirty, cheap and depressed. The government will always lie to you and steal from you. It will kill you as easily as it breaks wind. But if democracy is to make a comeback in this nation, the drip, drip, drip demise of the MSM will be a good thing, a very good thing.
It is pathetic to watch media idiots like Tom Brokaw try and justify their pathetic reporting on this issue.
Sorry, guys, but you are truly the worst crop of journalists this country has seen since the heyday of yellow journalism. At least they were mucrackers...