WaPo Cartoonist takes aim at corp media coverage of DSM

[katinmn]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/opinion/toles.html?name=Toles&date=20050621


Commentary by E & P:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000965313
Cartoonist Tom Toles Appears to Take Swipe at 'Wash Post' Editorial Page

By E&P Staff

Published: June 21, 2005 10:00 AM ET

NEW YORK Widely-honored syndicated cartoonist Tom Toles appeared to take a swipe at his home editorial page--at The Washington Post--today with a cartoon aimed at newspapers that have pooh-poohed the so-called Downing Street memos.

Last week, a widely-publicized Post editorial declared that it was "obvious" that the leaked 2002 British documents, which to many reveal with near-certainty that the Bush administration was determined to go to war in Iraq, "add not a single fact to what was previously known about the administration's prewar deliberations. Not only that: They add nothing to what was publicly known in July 2002."

Critics of the paper have charged that this is not true, and that the Post, among other newspapers, was hardly trumpeting this view three years ago. One of the memos also notes that intelligence to back an invasion would be "fixed" by the Bush administration.

Today, Toles, in the Post itself, joins the critics with a cartoon that depicts a newspaper correction that suggests the The Downing Street memos may appear "to be at odds with pretty much everything you remember seeing and hearing in the runup to the Iraq war." But the correction advises readers: "Your memory is in error. We regret your mistake."

-more-

[katinmn]

1. thank you for the nominations. one more?

[mzmolly]

9. Ya just got another.

:hi:

[blm]

2. Papers claiming its old news can prove it - how many articles about cooked

intel did they feature or even print throughout 2002 and 2003?

As far as I know, only Knight Ridder papers bothered to print indepth interviews of CIA analysts who were angry that the White House was cooking the intel books on Iraq and were shutting down CIA voices who spoke against their lies.

[electropop]

3. You'd think they would remember that old papers can be checked

Fools. They will lose even more readership as they let their credibility slip away. All the news outlets moan that nobody is reading/viewing/listening any more. Maybe one way to gain market share would be to start reporting the news. :nopity:

[NewJeffCT]

4. great cartoon - nominated

While I always suspected they were doing something shifty (this was way before I found DU in late 2003...), I never found much support in the corporate/mainstream media.

[checks-n-balances]

5. I hope one of his colleagues at WaPo, Dana Milbank, saw it

I wonder if he was also taking aim at the WP in general Milbank's column has disgraced the paper that was once on the cutting edge with the Watergate story 30 yrs. ago.

Raw Story on Milbank's story & Conyers' reply:
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Congressman_Conyers_hammers_the_Washington_Posts_D_0617.html

Anyway, thanks Toles!

[katinmn]

7. WaPo is disgraced. Totally.

What were they thinking?

Their attempt to minimize the significance of the DSM as well as the damage (through Getler, the ombudsman's column) to their own paper just made matters worse. Milbank isn't a reporter anymore, he's a "columnist", blah, blah, blah, and the article should have been tagged as "analysis." Well, as of yesterday, Milbank still wasn't listed as a columnist. Seems that was just an easy excuse.

WaPo's Getler also said the majority of complaints were orchestrated by FAIR. Wrong again. They heard from FAIR members but also hundreds of groups and individuals who have no affiliation with FAIR.

Still waiting for that apology, WaPo!

[young_at_heart]

6. Olbermann had a Post reporter last week who played it down

He basically said "This is old news, but now it's on paper, but it's no big deal". He certainly gave the impression that the media wasn't at all interested.

[RamboLiberal]

14. And the Senior Newsweek WH Correspondent

said the media played it down cause the "media" was weary of the Iraq war!

[girl gone mad]

18. Unbelievable!

NOW they are weary of the war? They deserve equal blame for our involvement in Iraq. They were constant cheerleaders for Bush in the run up to the war. When they thought their embedded journalists would bring good ratings, they were all for it.

Now that no one wants to hear about Iraq anymore, they think they can just pretend that it doesn't exist? Now that the war critics worst predicitions have come true, they want to pretend that they've been telling us the truth this whole time?

[holboz]

25. What about Clinton and "Whitewater"?

Rethugs were salivating over that 20 year old bit of news because they were gagging to find something to impeach him with.

It just astounds me that a lot of critics are trying very very hard to dismiss this as old news. Does that mean the damnable actions of this administration should not be held up for scrutiny? Should they not be held accountable for their actions?

I mean, a perfect case in point: the KKK member who was just convicted in the murders of 3 civil rights activists 40 YEARS ago. Those murders were definitely "old news" and for quite some time people had a good idea who actually killed those people. It took too long, but FINALLY someone is being held accountable for their action.

edit: spelling

[Hamlette]

8. kick

[stickdog]

10. Bwaaaaahh!!! (nt)

[Jacobin]

11. simply awesome. nominated

Toles is a genius.

[Jacobin]

12. KICK

[helderheid]

13. love it!

[Supersedeas]

15. Milbanks: take a long cold look, Mister Cutie Cleverpants

[in_cog_ni_to]

16. Priceless!

:bounce:

[jackstraw45]

17. Brilliant.....as usual.

How the Post keeps a person of this quality on their payroll is beyond me.

Tole's cartoon is the only square in the newspaper NOT to be used as toilet paper.

[Cha]

19. Political Cartoons seem to be the

best way to grab the public's attention span of a gnat.

This graphic statement is worth a thousand words.

Thank you Tom Toles!

[checks-n-balances]

20. Here's another good one - from Tom Tomorow (This Modern World)

http://villagevoice.com/news/0525,tomorrow,65122,9.html

[young_at_heart]

21. Everybody KNEW that the war was a foregone conclusion???

I guess that piece of knowledge is no big deal to the MSM....can someone please tell me why not?

[David Zephyr]

22. Thanks for posting this, katinmn

:thumbsup:

[nicknameless]

23. Tom Toles' panels are always outstanding. n/t

[malmapus]

24. Nominated

That one is priceless :kick:

[central scrutinizer]

26. this cartoon showed up in my paper today

June 22 - Eugene (OR) Register Guard

[Orion The Hunter]

27. RE: WaPo cartoon

Excellent post - nominated one more time

[Coexist]

28. awesome!

[zbdent]

29. The print is too big for the retraction

and it's placed next to the Garage Sales - this is an obvious fake :evilgrin:.

If this were real, it would be in tiny print, fuzzy, and smack dab in the middle of the "notice of levy" type notices; where they put the entire text of resolutions discussed ad nauseum at the town hall meetings.

[bornagainhuman]

30. PING!!! I think that one hit the bullseye

[the phantom shouting]

31. Letter to the Charlie Rose Show

I just sent this message off to Charlie Rose in the hopes that he would feature the major players from Rep. John Conyers hearing on the Downing Street minutes as a panel on his show. I would encourage others here to send their own requests to Mr. Rose, as he usually responds if he sees enough interest in a topic for his show. Good luck!

Dear Mr. Rose,

I have been a regular viewer of the Charlie Rose Show for many years now and have always found the program to be fearless in it's approach to even the thorniest topics. As the Charlie Rose Show is one of the few remaining programs on television willing to offer informed conversation about the important issues of our time, it is, for me, a refreshing break from all of the partisan bickering that passes for commentary and discussion on the networks these days.

That said, there is a story that has been breaking in the last few months that I feel has not received the attention it deserves from the media-at-large. I am speaking of the release of the Downing Street minutes and other related top-secret internal British documents that appear to indicate that the U.S. intelligence supporting plans for the war in Iraq was being ‘fixed around the policy’.

As I’m sure you know, an unofficial hearing was held in the Capitol building last Thursday on the relevancy of the British memos, chaired by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan and televised on C-Span. I found the abuses of government power suggested during the hearing nothing short of jaw-dropping. Watching the proceedings, I had the feeling that I was seeing something historic taking place, and that the memos were just the tip of an iceberg that just might turn into the biggest news story of my lifetime.

Please allow me to recommend a panel of guests for your series of shows on Iraq, a panel that I feel would be enlightening not only to yourself but to millions of your viewers at large. In addition to Rep. John Conyers, I would enjoy seeing on your program the group of witnesses that were present for the initial hearing on the Downing Street minutes: Ambassador Joseph Wilson, retired CIA analyst Ray McGovern, constitutional attorney John Bonifaz, and the mother of a soldier killed-in-action, Cindy Sheehan.

I am convinced that this is an issue that needs to be addressed further for the health of our nation, and if you find it at all relevant, I would be immensely pleased to see it addressed on the Charlie Rose Show.

Regards,
J. Riley

[Griffy]

32. read the GARAGE SALE!

"Prewar Intel Fixed"! I always say the arts are our secret weapon.

[ms liberty]

33. Brilliant!

This gets printed and put on the fridge - eye level prime viewing area - immediately! The Tom Tommorrow at post #20 also. Thanks for posting these, katinmn & checks-n-balances.

[Lasher]

34. It takes a cartoon

to describe what's going on in the corporate news media. That's because they're a bunch of clowns.