Bill Moyers and the Fight for American Journalism (by John Nichols for The Nation)

[marmar]

BLOG | Posted 04/25/2007 @ 12:41am
Bill Moyers and the Fight for American Journalism



Bill Moyers is not the first American to ask with regard media coverage of the run-up to the invasion of Iraq: "How did the mainstream press get it so wrong?"

The man who has been a White House press secretary, newspaper publisher, author and television news program host is not alone in wondering: "How did the evidence disputing (Bush administration claims and intimations regarding) the existence of weapons of mass destruction and the link between Saddam Hussein to 9-11 continue to go largely unreported?"

But Moyers has done something that most Americans have not had the time, the resources or the contacts to do, and that is answer the fundamental questions about the failure of print, broadcast and cable news outlets to cut through the spin and give the American people the truth about the Bush administration's unwarranted rush to war.

"What the conservative media did was easy to fathom; they had been cheerleaders for the White House from the beginning and were simply continuing to rally the public behind the President -- no questions asked," explains Moyers. "How mainstream journalists suspended skepticism and scrutiny remains an issue of significance that the media has not satisfactorily explored. How the administration marketed the war to the American people has been well covered, but critical questions remain: How and why did the press buy it, and what does it say about the role of journalists in helping the public sort out fact from propaganda?"

...(snip)...

Remarkably, and importantly, Moyers gets journalists who are still in the game to explain where things went wrong. For instance, Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz notes, "From August 2002 until the war was launched in March of 2003 there were about 140 front page pieces in the Washington Post making the administration's case for war. But there was only a handful of stories that ran on the front page that made the opposite case. Or, if not making the opposite case, raised questions."

What Moyers has produced is a chilling account of what happens in a republic where the media, for the most part, becomes a mouthpiece for the government. As Walter Pincus, one of the last of the great Washington reporters, explains to Moyers, "More and more the media become, I think, common carriers of administration statements and critics of the administration. We've sort of given up being independent on our own." .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?bid=1&pid=189752

[halobeam]

1. Nice read.

I'm looking very forward to tonight's premiere of Bill Moyers Journal. 9pm est. on PBS.

[Bitwit1234]

2. I really can't understand

WHY the congress does not do something about this press coverage. If you notice, the democrats still get crappy coverage. Not the whole item like the republicans do, but little clips and snippets, edited to make them seem like they are always carping and confused and not their real message. Just like the front page of CNN on line that said the dems Iraq message was dismal. Who the heck are they to critique the dems messages? Bring back the Fairness Doctrine. At least the media will have to give BOTH sides of an issue again. Then that way you will see the Fox disavows all pretense of being a News network and declare they are an extension of the RNC.

[groovedaddy]

3. The lack of coverage of Dems

I suppose is a result of one of two things:
1. Corporate media knows which side their bread is buttered on - the g.o.p. will carry their water more readily than the Dems (though some do). The pay back was relaxing media consolidation rules by the FCC.
2. The charges of "liberal media" are taken seriously by them and in order to give the appearance of "fairness," they are less likely to challenge the propaganda.