Clarke and the Media Failures of 9-11

[Robbien]

By Danny Schechter
MediaChannel.org

NEW YORK, March 29, 2004 -- Please raise your hand if the name Richard Clarke rang a bell for you three weeks ago? How many of us knew who he was or what he did? And who among us can cite examples of TV stories or commentators discussing in any detail his contention that the War on Iraq undermined the war on Terror?

I don't see too many hands and I can't really answer these questions with appropriate detail to my own satisfaction. Yes. there were discussions of the problems with the Iraq war and the lack of priority paid to the search for Al Qaeda but not the direct relationship between the two in the way Clarke sees the issue.

How many times have you seen that issue investigated in documentaries or hard hitting media stories? How many stories have there even been on 9-11 issues and questions before these hearings legitimized the issue?

As Richard Clarke points to intelligence failures and apologizes to 9-11 families for the government's inability to prevent the attack, who was going to raise the issue of the media's failure to discuss these issues in detail before this past week?

Who in our media will have the courage to apologize for giving the Administration a soft sell and a big pass?

Media Failures:
http://www.mediachannel.org/views/dissector/affalert165.shtml

[Miss Authoritiva]

1. The American media never fails...

In the media's mind, it never fails. That is, it never fails to deliver what is expected of it, and what is expected of it is not determined by the people in front of the camera, or scribbling in little notebooks, or waving microcassette recorders.

As for Dan Rather and his comments: I don't doubt that Rather feels conflicted, since he's a member of the very old school of journalism. But he is wealthy enough and old enough to retire from CBS and put his skills to use on independent projects. More bluntly put, Rather should put his money (and celebrity) where is mouth is.

[tom_paine]

2. No one., Might as well expect an apology from Soviet Pravda

for similar "failures by design".