The Media & The War

a summary of the recent Bill Moyers documentary (May 2007)

PBS's Bill Moyers recently hosted a 90-minute documentary, "Buying the War," on the media's roll in selling the Iraq War to the American public. Watch it here. I think it's important to remember who lied, spun, self-censored, and who remained loyal to the truth. Here's a summary of who said what.

Heroes:

-Knight Ridder News. One of very, very few news agencies who seriously questioned the administration's case for war. No New York or Washington papers get news from Knight Ridder. Knight Ridder was bought out by the McClatchy company in June 2006.

-Knight Ridder's John Wolcott. Washington Bureau Chief. Remained loyal to the truth.

-Knight Ridder's Warren Strobel.

-Knight Ridder's Jonathan Landay. "No sign of Iraq threat." "White House and the Pentagon are pressuring intelligence analysts to suppress information that might undercut support for the war."

-New York Times. James Risen. Wrote an article questioning the Iraq 9/11 link.

-CBS. Bob Simon. Reported on the marketing of the war.

-AP Charles Hanley wrote about the failure of U.N. weapons inspectors to find anything.

-The British Dossier. A British news show which busted much of the evidence presented in Collin Powell's famous speech before the U.N. at a time when ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS were praising it.

-Phil Donahue. On December 16, 2002, he aired questions about the war. On January 13th 2003, he had outspoken critic Scott Ritter. He did this despite pressure from MSNBC.

Villains:

-MSNBC. Fired Donahue. An internal memo read "Phil Donahue presents a difficult public face for NBC in a time of war."

-The entire White House Press Corps. On Mar. 6, 2003, they participated in a scripted Q&A with president Bush, staged to appear as legitimate inquiry without actually raising serious doubts.

-The New York Times' William Safire. Wrote 27 Opinion pieces and conducted many television interviews favoring invasion. Bush awarded him the presidential medal of freedom.

-The New York Times' Thomas Friedman.

-The New York Times' Judith Miller. Wrote about and produced a show about incriminating intelligence from Iraqi defectors (like Chalabi), ignoring the obvious possibility of them lying. Co-authored a NYTimes article which discussed Sadaam launching a "worldwide hunt for materials to make an atomic bomb." (September 8, 2002)

-Oprah. Featured Judith Miller who spoke about anthrax and botulism labs in Iraq. Featured Kenneth Pollock who spoke about Sadaam's nuclear program. Featured an associate of Chalabi who spoke about Iraq's need for liberation. Oprah squelched an audience member who raised doubts.

-Vanity Fair. David Rose. Wrote fantastical stories about Sadaam's terrorist camps.

-CNN Chairman & CEO Walter Isaacson, told all reporters to downplay civilian casualties in Afghanistan.

-Weekly Standard. William Kristol. Aggressively sold the war, both in print and as a pundit.

-Washington Post. Between August 2002 and the invasion (March 2003) had approximately 140 front page articles making the case for war, and only a handful raising questions. Dedicated only 36 words to Senator Kennedy's September 2002 speech in which he questioned the war and its implications. In October 2002, they downplayed one of the largest anti-war protests in history, covering it only in their Metro section. Recently hired Michael Gerson as a columnist, the Bush speechwriter responsible for the phrase "we cannot wait for the final proof. The smoking gun that can come in the form of a mushroom cloud."

-Washington Post's Jim Hoagland. Sold the war.

-New Republic. Editor Peter Beinart accused opponents of the war of being intellectually incoherent. Wrote about Sadaam's imminent acquisition of nuclear weapons.

-NBC,ABC, and CBS. Between September 2002 and February 2003, almost all of their 414 news stories about Iraq were sourced only from the Pentagon, State Department and White House.

-USA Today. Published articles like "Targeting Sadaam: Was there an Iraqi 9/11 link?"

-NY Daily News.

-Fox "News." Pundit said Iraq would have three nuclear bombs by 2005.

-Fox "News" Chief Roger Ailes encouraged administration to be harsh on critics.

-Fox's Bill O'Reilly. Speaking about war critics in Feb. 2003, he said "Anyone who hurts this country at a time like this will be spotlighted," and "people who publicly criticize their country in a time of military crisis are bad Americans."

-The New Herald, a Florida newspaper to their staff: "do not use photos on page 1a showing civilian casualties."

-Wall Street Journal. Gave disproportional space to those selling the war.