Rich,
If you have the New York Times page/article about the Pentagon recruiting retired military officers to push the administration's Iraq policy, would you bring it with you tomorrow??? On PBS nightly news there was a little, 5 minute blurb about it but I don't find it on-line yet. This would back up what I told you I saw in the DVD on Selling the War. And what I saw on PBS interview of a retired military officer basically doing PR or spin-control in the interview. Was so obvious I got steamed. Almost as bad as watching FOX, except I KNOW they are biased. And NYT lists all the U.S. news reporting TV channels as "infected"...which is another reason I listen to and watch Canadian news (and Reuters and BBC) more than U.S. stations and channels except for the 6 p.m. PBS news. From what I got from channel 9 tonight, we've received nothing but propaganda since 2002 in TV news. Story is still unfolding.
(Response)
Dear Charlie,
I'm pretty sure that I have that issue at the college. So, I think I can find it for you.
It was extremely painful to read, but it was nothing short of the craven practices of a hollow administration and the very clever, thoughtful practices of a military that knows the word sustainability.
It's the media at fault, Chuck.
It's the media, not the Bush Administration.
It's the media, not the Pentagon, or military brass.
It's the media's job to vet all sources and not be duped.
It's a great story that deserves industry recognition and serious change.
Cheers,
Rich
So, the reporter did all the good footwork, filed all the necessary FOIA requests, jumped through all the hoops and likely heard a million dismissals from very politie and well-trained officials. More than a thousand comments have rained down on the NYT online version. The cynics saying they knew it all along or some version of the same. Those who've not paid attention to WWI, WWII, the Creel Commission, Hill and Knowlton, etc., etc., and other tools of government to support unpopular wars, and the amazing history public relations savant Edward Bernays, they are hurt.
At least one person mentioned their frustration at this story coming so late.
Yes, quality journalism takes time. Verification and validation take time.
Some good questions were posed on the ethics of this issue: taxpayer dollars, and psy-ops by military officials against its own people.
Fascinating question. None of those brass believe they were working against the will of the people. They were serving people in high offices rather than leading people in public service.
And broadcasters? Broadcast journalism has pockets of great work. See PBS' Frontline and Lowell Bergman. Listen to Ted Koppell on NPR. Watch Bill Moyers on PBS and wherever he pops up in documentary work.
Isn't the bigger question one of accountability?
What will broadcst news, the big three do now?
How will people hold ABC, NBC, and CBS accountable for sourcing and where might it lead? They still hold the biggest hand of audience, even if CSPAN, CNN and MSNBC are nipping at their collective heels. Credibility is built day by day and week by week. It's either build the credibility brick by brick, or hope that cheap tricks and the daily bread and circuses keep the audience pleased. Some network news chiefs will either ease the numbness and the seek slow relief of oxycotin or shut out the complaints with soft cotton.
Will viewers really complain and numbers drop and substantive changes be made when the NYT feels it must run stories about Katie Couric's fate rather than U.S. soldiers fates in Iraq, Afghanistan and all points overseas?
And Egbert R. Murrow?
It's April 25, 2008 and the 100th anniversary of his birth.
He is alive in the legacy of all work that speaks truth to power and serves men and women of reason across the globe and for greater justice.
Still, he signed off with "Good Night and Good Luck"
Apparently, he believed even his brethren in the electric pulpits could use the help of fate's hand.