The White House has thrown down the gauntlet to the NYTimes...

[kentuck]

and the "liberal media". They are threatening to destroy the free press in this country if they do not walk the neo-con line. And they have a lot of weapons, even against those that buy their ink by the barrel. Because they have controlling interests in the broadcast medium of this nation. They own FOX News, Clear Channel, and hundreds of other broadcast voices across this country. And, unlike their "liberal" counterparts, they are willing to use these voices in a loud and aggressive manner. This is a critical time for the free press in our nation, in my opinion.

[babylonsister]

1. Have you heard of any comments from the NYT since the DOJ

announced a formal investigation into who leaked to the NYT yesterday?
I thought they'd come out of the gate blazing, but can't access their
website.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. But the NYT has already blinked. Repeatedly. They don't have the spine

anymore. They don't have the management willing to do what is right.
They are led by an immature, spoiled aging brat who is more emotionally secure with WHIGs in the white house than with America.

[Gman]

3. Loud and aggressive describes Mike Malloy

and a lot of other Air America voices. Outlaw AA and other outlets and an underground forms in its place.

[kentuck]

4. There are a few of us "loud and aggressive" types...

still willing to fight. Malloy is one of the leaders.

[AtomicKitten]

5. we have no free press, much less a liberal media n/t

[pretzel4gore]

6. the thing is, the herd knows

the 'press' must be one of the most despised 'institutions' in the land, and the only reason the lying liars get away with it is that the ruling tapeworm keeps it that way.....volumes have been written about this (manufacturing consent)...the 'samizadat'(?) movement that took place in eastern europe (helped undoubtedly by 'our' side) which was a photocopied news sheets used to spread info...we need such a movement today (the net isn't effective enough to get the 'bush knew' message across) There were efforts to get the samizadat(sp) going a few years ago, but even the most committed, knowlegable 'progressive' seems to think that pigmedia can be used to fight pigmedia. The MAN seems to quickly usurp 'alternative media' which is now 'free' ie expenses paid via advertising alone (indeed, soon all newspapers re VILLAGE VOICE! be given away 'free' cuz the MAN wants to remove the funding of the press away from ...etcetera and soon ad nazism, the point is the pigmedia aint to be trusted. a fixed reference point must be "the 2000 election was an illegal power grab by neo fascism"..if any media dares deny that basic truth, it isn't serious, it's just stroking off or waiting until the 'herd' isn't totally indifferent (which is actually happening now, i believe) to venture out...truth is literally toxic to the MAN so let's use it!

[90-percent]

7. pig media

any updates on Al Gore's new TV network?

Seems like that could give it to "the man"

-85%

[pretzel4gore]

9. that is a broad, and i admit dangerous, brush to use but

fox henhouse news and cnn (cnn hiring william bennet, and fox henhouse news hiring novak for example) and indeed nytimes, AP, Reuters, PBS and such a litany of media names all LIE LIE LIE and it's their lying that has made bush's rain so damn acidic! AAR and blog radio, Radio Pacifica, radio left, the Nation, Harpers, Mother Jones Bob Kinkaid Guy James and a whole bunch of other alternative type media which doesn't lie to survive (some of us lie for the hell of it, but that's just over exuberance)....i haven't heard much about Al Gore's network, except that it's trying to make money, and using the 'pigmedia' formula, to survive, which is conveeenient for the corporate pigs, unfortunately...

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. The NYT must have known this was coming

before they ever ran this story. I imagine they are ready for it.

I'm putting my money on the paper this time.

[gratuitous]

10. I like your optimism, even if I don't share it

After the Judith "I'm the queen of all fucking Iraq" Miller debacle, the cozying up to the White House by the top brass at the Times, the secret meetings with the White House to discuss stories prior to publication, I think the Times and the Washington Post are so badly compromised that they can't do the right thing even by accident.

However, it is peculiar to watch the rest of the major media observe the total destruction of their status as the Fourth Estate. I watched ABC breathlessly report on the announcement of the Justice Department investigation into the leak. They plumbed the archive for footage of a stern Chimpy, caught with his hand in the cookie jar clear up to his elbow, bluster and fume about what a breach of our nation's security it was for his illegal spy program to be exposed. They followed it up with some bearded egghead, who quietly reminded the slack-jawed reporters that their very profession was in danger, as were the civil rights of the entire American populace. The upshot was that the full weight of the government was going to come down on finding this particular leaker (no word about who leaked Valerie Plame's identity) and ABC News would be content to merely report the action.

Will the Times tell the government to go screw itself? After being tremendously embarrassed by Judy Miller, I'm guessing they're badly wounded in their corporate psyche, and will roll over without much of a fight. The story will then morph from the dictatorial abuse of power by the president into the horrible, horrible news that some people in government still have a conscience and just can't seem to keep their traps shut about it.

[gulliver]

11. I feel the same way.

My money is on the paper too. The NYT heard Bush's arguments from Bush himself. They probably got to hear that printing the story would be "shameful." They and their lawyers undoubtedly heard Bush's argument that the wiretaps were legal. Then they ran the story anyway. I take that to mean Bush has a weak case.

[applegrove]

12. And the editor says he cannot get info from the writers. That he is being

stonewalled - this is the sources-freedom of the press battle that is worth fighting.

[Neil Lisst]

13. They intend to this pursue criminally, to stop leaks.

It's no surprise that a fascist government sees more fascism as the answer to truth getting out.

They're going to try to intimidate news organs, journalists, and sources. While Rove sits there immune.

[HR_Pufnstuf]

14. "threatening to destroy the free press "

TV already did this because not everyone has access to be ON tv.