PBS breaks ‘media blackout’ of NYT story on Pentagon propaganda.
Filed Under: Media
By on Apr 25th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
PBS breaks ‘media blackout’ of NYT story on Pentagon propaganda.
On Sunday, The New York Times published an explosive report exposing the Pentagon’s secret campaign to use analysts in order to “generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance.” Since that time, TV news organizations have largely been silent on their role in the propaganda. Ari Melber notes that last night, PBS’s Newshour finally broke this blackout, but couldn’t convince the other networks to participate:
JUDY WOODRUFF: And for the record, we invited Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, CBS, ABC and NBC to participate, but they declined our offer or did not respond.
Watch PBS’s segment here:
UpdateMedia Matters notes that even after The New York Times report, Fox News continues to use one of the Pentagon's analysts.
UpdateYesterday. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-MO) spoke on the House floor about the scandal.
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PBS’s Newshour finally broke this blackout, but couldn’t convince the other networks to participate…
That’s because, with very few exceptions within those organizations, they have become propaganda whores for the government.
April 25th, 2008 at 12:58 pmCan you say TREASON !!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:58 pmLots of networks have been caught in this cookie jar. Of course they don’t want to talk about it. They employed lazy and biased newspeople to sell the country on an illegal and unnecessary invasion of a soverign nation.
I expect to hear crickets for a long time…..
April 25th, 2008 at 12:59 pmAll hail the Almighty Dollar!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:59 pmNow how about a little story on the fact that Bush said weeks ago he approved of torture , which is a little bitty and unambiguous WAR CRIME !!!!
April 25th, 2008 at 1:01 pmdamn librul media!
April 25th, 2008 at 1:02 pmand as we know in America, “IF IT DIDNT HAPPEN ON TV, IT DIDNT REALLY HAPPEN”
April 25th, 2008 at 1:04 pm6. Controlled Mass Media - Sometimes to media is directly controlled by the government, but in other cases, the media is indirectly controlled by government regulation, or sympathetic media spokespeople and executives. Censorship, especially in war time, is very common.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:07 pm“..but they declined our offer or did not respond.”
WTF is wrong with our 4th Estate!?!
It’s time to BOMBARD THEM with calls and e-mails and Faxes and Letters! The other day I posted a long list of the names and contact info for the Washington Press Corps, is anyone here savy and willing enough to put together a website that we could all use to blast them?
I’m not technically savy enough or I would do it but I’d be willing to help if someone has the technical skills that I lack.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:14 pmAs it becomes more obvious to more and more people that the main stream media is part of the problem, maybe enough people will wake up and start making different choices. There are a lot of (bad, sad, horrifying…) stories that are cropping up all over (often driven thru the internet). They are gaining traction with more of the populace (polls show). Hopefully there is a straw out there waiting to break this camels back and hopefully it will be soon and hopefully I will get to see the fall out (you know, where those once glorified are dragged thru the mud - hopefully right to the locked doors of a prison specializing in war criminals!)
I obviously live in the land of “hopefully” :)
April 25th, 2008 at 1:14 pmThey just don’t want to upset their corporate masters. Journalism is dead, the conservative propaganda machine is alive and well.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:16 pmThe MSM is complicit in the deaths of more than a million Iraqi’s and American servicemen and women . Propagandists for a regime guity of treason and war crimes !
April 25th, 2008 at 1:16 pmJust applying the standing FISA law as it was written will net years in jailtime for the criminals in power but Jay Rockerfeller is too busy reproducing his family’s history to pick up the bodies of the dead coal miners and thier families !!
Bring the FISA bill for a vote on the senate floor .
APPLY THE LAW AS IT IS WRITTEN ! WHO IS ABOVE THE LAW !
Bushes and Rockerfellers are only .3% of the population , REMEMBER ?
My dream has come true.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pmThere is finally a television news program that exposes the scum that has been a huge problem and very much a part of funneling us into the the nightmare of the last 8 years.
Keith Olberman reported this on Countdown, so there is not a total media blackout. It’s too bad that watching Countdown wasn’t mandatory for all Americans. At least they would know what in the hell is going on in the world around them.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:22 pmJustice for all without regard for race religion or sex or nationality!
April 25th, 2008 at 1:25 pmRejoin the world court !
Investigate over 50 years of American foreign policy , death squads , torturers , political assassinations and support of brutal dictatorships and break with the past!
Justice Now !
Keith H. Says:
——————————————————————————–
My dream has come true.
There is finally a television news program that exposes the scum that has been a huge problem and very much a part of funneling us into the the nightmare of the last 8 years.
Keith, are you talking about PBS?
They get like 8 viewers, and the repugs. are constantly trying to pull their funding. I am glad that they exist but something on a very large scale needs to be done to shake the rest of the media out of thier coma and wake the masses. Unfortunately, PBS alone just isn’t going to get it done.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:27 pmI remember when this was still new news. I’ve often wondered since then what became of Rumsfeld’s project:
– The Office of Strategic Influence Is Gone, But Are Its Programs In Place?, FAIR, 11/27/02
I understand Doug Feith was one of the people involved in this thing.
April 25th, 2008 at 1:29 pmthat until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; that until there is no longer any first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; that until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all, without regard to race — until that day, the dreams of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained”: Speech by H.I.M. HAILE SELASSIE I - California 28th February 1968
April 25th, 2008 at 1:31 pmWho is above the law Jay Rockerfeller ?
April 25th, 2008 at 1:34 pmTo a man we’re just going to have to keep calling these fake news pushers out. Thank GOD for Media Matters and the progressive movement.
Never forget Tim Russert’s famous line(paraphrased on mOyers): “It’s not my job to be a counter to war advocates if the Democrats aren’t doing it.”
April 25th, 2008 at 1:54 pmOFF TOPIC….ACTION ALERT!!!!
The federal crime of inciting a riot carries a possible penalty of up to five years in prison a fine.
UPDATE: Richard Blair says we should complain to the Colorado Attorney General:
…and you should be urging Colorado Attorney General John Suthers to investigate. How is it that a GOP attack dog frontman can call for riots in the streets of Denver during the Democratic National Convention, and not be currently residing in a jail cell someplace? Because, apparently, IOKIYAR. Still, Inciting to Riot is a felony - and the Colorado AG should be all over this.
http://www.ago.state.co.us/contact_us.cfm
Here’s my note:
Rush Limbaugh is inciting his listeners to riot at the Democratic Convention in Denver. This is a federal crime with penalty of up to 5 years and a fine.
Please do something. This is America, not some third-world sewer.
Rush is also intimating a race war. Make him pay for his anti-American words.
reply edit — You are unverified.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:11 pmDare I ask WHY Limpo is inciting his listeners to riot at the Dem Convention? Would that be because they keep funding the Iraq occupation against their constituents’ wishes?
:P
April 25th, 2008 at 2:20 pmI watched the PBS show, and was dumbfounded when Judy Woodruff noted no other network chose to join the discussion.
Yes, PBS may not reach most Americans, but it’s still the only channel with the balls to deliver ‘real news’.
Last week they showed an hour long program on Bush’s energy policy. Guess what? Same shit, different day. Cheney was behind it all, just as we suspected. They had their eyes on Iraq in ‘01.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:23 pmvergasbaby,
Meanwhile, here in MN, Gov. Tim Pawlenty, (TP), supports keeping our bars open until 4:00 a.m., rescinding the smoking ban and other merriment for the Grand Old Pigs convention.
This is the same TP who’s been so busy kissing McWarmonger’s ass that he doesn’t have time to govern.
‘Living With Less in the Land of Pawlenty’
April 25th, 2008 at 2:26 pmI’m glad I sent PBS a little financial incentive recently! I hadn’t done that in years, but, I saw a great special on Pete Seeger and wanted to give them some positive reinforcement. That guy is so cool.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:30 pmNever forget Tim Russert’s famous line(paraphrased on mOyers): “It’s not my job to be a counter to war advocates if the Democrats aren’t doing it.”
Mr. Potato Head Sucks. He is a buffoon that should be ignored.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:34 pmIOKIYAR
Can someone tell me what the hell that acronym stands for?
April 25th, 2008 at 2:36 pmIt’s OK If You’re A Repulican’t
April 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pmIt’s okay if you’re a repug.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:40 pmIOKIYAR
Can someone tell me what the hell that acronym stands for?
April 25th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
It’s
April 25th, 2008 at 2:42 pmOk
If
Your
A
Republican
I made the mistake of google’ing that phrase just now. You know, out of curiousity and the ad right over the definition is a bash-Obama ad.
When I clicked on one of the links in the bash-Obama ad there was this question:
“Is Obama the Anti-Christ?” No lie.
It’s gonna be a rocky ride people!!
April 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pmOh, in case you’re curious about the link I referred to:
http://acronyms.thefreedictionary.com/IOKIYAR
April 25th, 2008 at 2:46 pmIt’s ok if you are a Republican
April 25th, 2008 at 2:47 pmZelnick is practically a neocon. I often wondered why he got his gig at BU’s J school–can you imagine a moron like him justifying this crap. That article on Sunday was devastating. It was 3 full pages inside the paper-that began on the front page above the fold.
Congress must investigate this.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:48 pmSorry NewsHour lovers, but the show has been as much a cheerleader for Bushco as Faux News, just subtler. Where Fox just uses right wing zealots as pundits, Jim Lehrer uses right wingers and slightly less right wingers giving the appearance of balance instead of true debate.
To bad Keith Olbermann (MSNBC) doesn’t spend more time on the News segments instead of fluff, but I guess given our A.D.D. population, they couldn’t take reality!
April 25th, 2008 at 2:51 pmAbout that Limpo bit about inciting a riot at the Dem convention:
‘Several callers called in to the radio show to denounce Limbaugh’s comments, when he later stated, “I am not inspiring or inciting riots, I am dreaming of riots in Denver.”
Limbaugh said with massive riots in Denver, which he called “Operation Chaos,” the people on the far left would look bad.
“There won’t be riots at our convention,” Limbaugh said of the Republican National Convention. “We don’t riot. We don’t burn our cars. We don’t burn down our houses. We don’t kill our children. We don’t do half the things the American left does.”‘
All I can hope is that there is a huge love-in at the convention!
April 25th, 2008 at 2:51 pmI cannot believe that anyone listens to Limpo’s show. Has anyone here burned a car, burned down a house or killed a child lately? Jeez.
April 25th, 2008 at 2:53 pmIt’s OK If You’re A Repulican’t
Thanks to all for my daily dose of enlightenment. I feel much smarter already :)~
April 25th, 2008 at 3:03 pmmary Says:
I cannot believe that anyone listens to Limpo’s show. Has anyone here burned a car, burned down a house or killed a child lately?
April 25th, 2008 at 3:11 pmNo Mary but I will if I’m instructed to by any viable authority figure .
36 Mary - Isn’t Limbaugh saying just the opposite. As it is the protestors who are likely to riot:
If there are cars overturned and burned at the Repug convention, it would be those protesting the repugnants.
If there are cars overturned and burned at the demo convention, it would be those protesting the demos - that is the ditto heads, 28% ers, repugs.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:27 pm36 Mary - Isn’t Limbaugh saying just the opposite. As it is the protestors who are likely to riot:
If there are cars overturned and burned at the Repug convention, it would be those protesting the repugnants.
If there are cars overturned and burned at the demo convention, it would be those protesting the demos - that is the ditto heads, 28% ers, repugs.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:27 pmMapleStreet -
‘Limbaugh cited Al Sharpton, saying the Barack Obama supporter threatened to superdelegates that “there’s going to be trouble” if the presidency is taken from Obama.’
So Rush picked up on that and basically said, “Good! I hope they do riot.” kind of thing.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:33 pma link to that:
April 25th, 2008 at 3:34 pmhttp://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15980105/detail.html
16. TheRadicalRightisRadicallyWrong Says:
Yes, I was talking about pbs.
April 25th, 2008 at 3:37 pmI know about the viewers and funding.
It just seems like such a breath of fresh air to see anything like this. I want to grab it, put it in a storage container and open it up whenever I need it. I’ve had such a hatred for our msm for so long.
I agree as you stated, that something on a very large scale needs to be done.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I MEANT ‘TREASON’… MISSTYPED…
April 25th, 2008 at 4:13 pmLehrer’s segment was a start. Sadly, it was a bit of a sissy-ass, mealy-mouthed start. Woodruff kept interrupting Stauber - who was there to discuss the illegality of the Pentagon operation - in order to ask Robert Zelnick if Stauber was right. And then Zelnick would mount an embarrassingly self-serving and incoherent defense of the networks. Woodruff would let him go on and on, and finally he’d wind down, she’d ask Stauber a question, Stauber would start to answer, she’d interrupt him, and back we’d go to Zelnick spouting the very same (read: talking points) crapola.
Very discouraging. I have become more and more unhappy with Lehrer’s performance in the last few years. He’s done way too much apologizing for the Bush administration.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:38 pmKeith H. Says:
April 25th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Oh, good we’re on the same page.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:40 pmTheRadicalRightisRadicallyWrong Says:
“..but they declined our offer or did not respond.”
WTF is wrong with our 4th Estate!?!
They aren’t OUR Fourth Estate.
April 25th, 2008 at 5:58 pmThey are CorporateAmericaWhore’s 5th column.
RUCerious Says:
——————————————————————————–
They aren’t OUR Fourth Estate.
They are CorporateAmericaWhore’s 5th column.
My bad… :)
April 25th, 2008 at 8:26 pm>damn librul media!
This makes me laugh every single time i hear it. This pentagon thing is but one of a long chain of non-stories
that would be getting constantly airplay if the media really was anyting resembling “liberal”.
The defense industry has its tentacles tightly coiled around the american media…ABC is owned by defense contractor GE, etc etc. Its become nothing but a vehicle to sell tootpaste and tampons to the ignorant masses.
Not sure what can be done about this…
April 26th, 2008 at 2:12 amThe time is rapidly approaching that our system of government will need to be seriously changed or replaced.
April 26th, 2008 at 1:57 pm