Scott Ritter: Why Are Corporate Journalists So Afraid of Questioning Authority?

[marmar]

from Truthdig, via AlterNet:



Why Are Corporate Journalists So Afraid of Questioning Authority?

By Scott Ritter, Truthdig. Posted June 17, 2008.

Even after a former Bush spokesman says the press caved in on Iraq, the media are in total denial about their role in the invasion.



"I think the questions were asked. I think we pushed. I think we prodded. I think we challenged the president. I think not only those of us in the White House press corps did that, but others in the rest of the landscape of the media did that. The right questions were asked. I think there's a lot of critics -- and I guess we can count Scott McClellan as one -- who think that, if we did not debate the president, debate the policy in our role as journalists, if we did not stand up and say, 'This is bogus,' and 'You're a liar,' and 'Why are you doing this?' that we didn't do our job. And I respectfully disagree. It's not our role."

That was NBC correspondent David Gregory, appearing on MSNBC's "Hardball With Chris Matthews." He was responding to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new book, "What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception." McClellan has challenged the role of the U.S. media in investigating and reporting U.S. policy in times of conflict, especially when it comes to covering the government itself.

As a critic of U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, especially when unsubstantiated allegations of weapons of mass destruction are used to sell a war, I am no stranger to the concept of questioning authority, especially in times of war. I am from the Teddy Roosevelt school of American citizenship, adhering to the principle that "to announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but it is morally treasonable to the American public."

Some may point out that Roosevelt made that statement in criticism of Woodrow Wilson's foot dragging when it came to getting America into World War I, and that it is odd for one opposed to American involvement in Iraq to quote a former president who so enthusiastically embraced military intervention. But principle can cut both ways on any given issue. The principle inherent in the concept of the moral responsibility of the American people to question their leadership at all times, but especially when matters of war are at stake, is as valid for the pro as it is the con.

The validity of this principle is not judged on the level of militancy of the presidential action in question, but rather its viability as judged by the values and ideals of the American people. While the diversity of the United States dictates that there will be a divergence of consensus when it comes to individual values and ideals, the collective ought to agree that the foundation upon which all American values and ideals should be judged is the U.S. Constitution, setting forth as it does a framework of law which unites us all. To hold the Constitution up as a basis upon which to criticize the actions of any given president is perhaps the most patriotic act an American can engage in. As Theodore Roosevelt himself noted, "No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we ask him to obey it." ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/87625/

[MannyGoldstein]

1. I Think Dan Rather Knows The Answer

Try asking him.

[mwb970]

3. Russert knew too. /nt

[JohnyCanuck]

6. Check out Dan Rather in this Yahoo video clip

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/182654/1125580
Quote: "What you have is a miniature version of what you have in totalitarian states." (Its near the end of the clip)

[Echo In Light]

2. "In the case of Gregory, therefore, we must not only bring into the mix his own individual....

...performance, but also that of NBC News and its parent organization, General Electric."

[KharmaTrain]

4. Scott's Been Hosed By The Corporate Media Constantly

Here's a man who knew...he was on the ground, saw what was happening, spoke the truth and paid a big price for it. He was slimed and relegated to the corporate media "loony bin". You rarely see him interviewed...and when you do, it's on an alternative media program like Democracy NOW.

We've just seen with the Russert Memorial, how self absorbed the corporate media is with itself and the power elite. It feels its the center of the universe and those who are put in front of a camera or given a byline have some kind of special insight or powers. It's a provincial world that has a very thin skin...especially when the criticism exposes a fundamental flaw with that world. It's best to berate or ignore than to come clean and put the same scrutiny to itself that it demands of others. Pundits can get things wrong endlessly, but as long as they keep the bosses happy, they have another shot to "get it right" or spin their way out of it or just outright lie again. There's very little accountablility...and when there is, it's belated and like pulling teeth.

[Echo In Light]

5. Paula Zahn accused him of "drinking Saddam's Kool Aid."

[KharmaTrain]

8. Two Years Ago He Predicted This Oil Crisis

I remember hearing him interviewed on the radio about all the speculation that was taking place and how this would drive up all sorts of prices. He gave a scenario of a total economic shutdown and food riots...and civil strife that would lead to more problems in the Middle East and a deeper involvement. It was a pretty bleak assessment...and one that appears to be spot on.

[marmar]

9. She of the five active brain cells?

Paula Zahn has an IQ/credibility problem, I think. :dunce:

[Wiley50]

23. she's down to one now and it's insane n/t

[ananda]

12. The corporate media is and will always be a power elite..

.. as long as people watch those shows.

It's a paper tiger, though. If people stop
watching, the media crumples.

[KharmaTrain]

13. Keep Questioning...Keep Building An Alternative Media

Not watching is what led to the rise of the right wing spin machines. Many on the left felt it was beneath arguing many of the memes and themes that soon became "conventional wisdom" that created a lot of the media stereotypes we fight today.

We must be alert to the games they play...and to show others how the game is being played. A wiser electorate and public the better and that will also increase demand on the corporate media to be more accountable.

[enough]

7. Ritter makes an interesting case in point: the Bloommobile.

snip>

Bloom was able to provide the specifications of his idea to his NBC bosses, and in just 40 days, engineers from Maritime Telecommunications Network and NBC were able to modify a Ford F-450 to not only withstand the rigors of the Iraqi desert, but also to accommodate the electronics and satellite dish. Four weeks before the start of the war, the vehicle was tested, only to have the signal drop every time the vehicle turned. The engineers worked frantically to fix the problem, and the modified F-450, nicknamed the "Bloommobile," was airlifted to Kuwait, arriving just days before the start of the invasion.

The cost of the Bloommobile has not been formally revealed, but is thought to run into seven figures. This vehicle would never have been made without the support of GE, which underwrote the cost of its construction. GE also fronted for NBC in negotiating special clearances with the Pentagon and State Department on exceptions to policy and import-export control. The Pentagon's official policy while the Bloommobile was being built was for embeds to ride in vehicles provided by their respective unit, and that the media were not to provide their own transportation. Clearly, the Bloommobile represented a stark exception to that rule.

Keep in mind that the entire time GE/NBC was investing millions of dollars into building the Bloommobile so they could get crystal-clear live video transmitted from the "tip of the spear," the Bush administration was playing coy on the subject of war with Iraq. With GE/NBC News so heavily invested in exploiting a war, was there any pressure placed on NBC reporters/correspondents concerning how they dealt with the Bush administration's case for war? It is a fair question, and one that could best be dealt with through an examination of the internal GE/NBC documents concerning the Bloommobile. Who in GE/NBC served as the project manager for the Bloommobile? Certainly Bloom, the brain trust, was away in Kuwait. Who oversaw the project back in the United States? What did the Bloommobile cost? What was the internal debate within GE/NBC concerning the merits/faults of the Bloommobile? An organization like GE/NBC does not allocate millions of dollars on a whim. There had to be some sort of oversight that was documented. Who in GE/NBC fronted for the Bloommobile with the U.S. government? What is the record of communication between GE/NBC and the U.S. government concerning the vehicle? Did GE/NBC have to provide the U.S. government with any guarantees concerning the use of the Bloommobile?

In investing in the vehicle, GE/NBC News was investing in the war. There are quid pro quo arrangements made every day, and the link between the U.S. government granting NBC News so many exceptions in the creation and fielding of the Bloommobile, and the crackdown within the GE-controlled NBC/MSNBC family on anti-war and anti-administration sentiment, cannot be dismissed as simply circumstantial. But a review of the available documents would clarify this issue.

snip>

[NewJeffCT]

14. Something like this "Bloommobile"

is really petty cash for a company like GE that generates $170 Billion in revenue a year and measures their profits in billions of dollars as well. Even if it cost them $10 million (which is 8 figures, while the article says the cost was 7 figures...), that is less than 5/100 of 1% of their $20 billion in profit and well under 1/100 of 1% of their revenues.

Heck, GE's R&D budget runs well over $4 billion.

While I agree that GE and their employees on NBC helped to promote the war, the Bloommobile is not a good example.

[enough]

24. The point is not the dollar amount, but the fact that the thing was being developed

and built for the purpose even BEFORE Bushco had officially decided to invade.

[tanyev]

10. Because that's not how they became successful corporate journalists.

[Echo In Light]

17. There are classic examples of this during some interviews w/Noam Chomsky

The interviewer will be asking something along the lines of, well how can you say that? and Chomsky will politely respond with if you didn't believe what you do, you wouldn't be sitting here interviewing me. ...meaning, if one wishes to be $ucce$$ful, there are certain thoughts and questions that are not only unspoken, they are not even entertained. It would be antithetical to the process of becoming "successful."

[Mabus]

22. That's the answer

"Too many questions and no promotion for you!"

Colbert nailed it:

But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason: they're super-depressing. And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished. Over the last five years you people were so good -- over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn't want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know - fiction!


source used: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0501-30.htm

[sam sarrha]

11. because they will be ..BLACKLISTED

[Lugnut]

15. "It's not our role."

I'd like David to tell me whose role he thinks it is?

[Imagevision]

16. Afraid of Questioning Authority? no denial, simply informed what to report on

M$M is mostly owned by the rupert Murdoch types and bush needed a hand to sell the Iraq war and the media replied, yes-sir boss.

[tbyg52]

18. The answer to any question starting, "Why don't they-" is almost always, "Money."

- Robert Heinlein, "Shooting Destination Moon"
http://homepage.eircom.net/%257Eodyssey/Quotes/Life/Advice.html


(In this case, fear of the withdrawal of.)

[tabasco]

19. They like getting a paycheck.

A fat one too.

Money over principles. The story of America.

[Fire Walk With Me]

20. Mysterious anthrax letters from within the US...and worse.

Not that anyone has done anything to learn who did this.

[windoe]

21. Amazing how the disease of money and power consolidation

seems to be contagious. Also amazing to me is how people who have been 'infected' start to actually believe their own lies. I am beginning to suspect this is a form of delusion of some sort.