Robert Parry: What Happened to the US Press Corps?

[marmar]

from Consortium News:


What Happened to the US Press Corps?
March 18, 2013

Exclusive: As the U.S. observes the tenth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, a key question remains: Why was there almost no accountability for journalists and pundits who went along with George W. Bush’s deceptions. The answer can be found in the cover-ups of the Reagan-Bush-41 era, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry


In the early 1980s, when it became clear to me that the Reagan administration was determined to lie incessantly about its foreign policy initiatives – that it saw propagandizing the American people as a key part of its success – I pondered this question: What is the proper role of a U.S. journalist when the government lies not just once in a while but nearly all the time?

Should you put yourself into a permanently adversarial posture of intense skepticism, as you might in dealing with a disreputable source who had lost your confidence? That is, assume what you’re hearing is unreliable unless it can be proven otherwise.

To many readers, the answer may seem obvious: of course, you should! Indeed, it might seem wise to many of you that I should have assumed that Ronald Reagan and his Cold War hard-liners were always lying and work back from there to the rare occasions when they weren’t.

But it wasn’t that easy. At the time, I was working as an investigative reporter for The Associated Press in Washington and many of my senior news executives were deeply sympathetic to Reagan’s muscular foreign policy after the perceived humiliations of the lost Vietnam War and the long Iranian hostage crisis. ...................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2013/03/18/what-happened-to-the-us-press-corps/

[gateley]

1. David Corn and Wes Clark were just on with Thomas (MSNBC) and they both were

saying they were sounding the alarm back then, but the press totally ignored them.

Honestly, since it's become a ratings business, I'm not sure we can expect much else. It's just a competition to see who brings in the highest ratiings (translating into advertising revenue) telling THE SAME STORY. As always, it's always the money.

There are a few with the latitude and integrity to still be real journalists, but most of America gets its info from the big networks or big cable, and that's all big business.

Great piece -- thanks!

[monmouth3]

2. I still cannot look at let alone listen to Tom Brokaw...Disgusting, the lot of them...n/t

[gateley]

3. And Brokaw is now considered the "old" guard -- a real journalist (as opposed to

the young crop of personalities that are "reporting" these days). And I agree with you.

[riderinthestorm]

4. K&R. A deeply important piece especially as we enter murky times of drones, wiretapping, US citizens

being allowed to be killed on the orders of the President and more.

While the internet has spawned a legion of citizen reporters, too often its hard to sift out truth and fiction there as well. We need journalists with integrity to do their jobs...

[malthaussen]

5. I've often thought the major lesson of Vietnam

(from the Administration's point of view) was that the press corps needed to be "handled" better. Indeed, I was amazed at how effectively they were neutered during the first Iraqi war -- GHQ delivered a virtuoso performance in manipulating the press to its advantage. And it has been downhill ever since. Indeed, by what Mr Parry says, the rot began even earlier.

-- Mal

[Spitfire of ATJ]

6. There should have been a general purge....

All those in media who were promoting the propaganda including questioning the loyalty of anyone who called out the lies should have been removed from the air.

We should have seen a transformation of the media. It should have gone back to investigative reporting.

Didn't happen.