29 May 2008
Since the beginning of the war I have questioned the media’s roll in coverage of the war. I had a gut level that they were closely governed by the Bush administration and lo and behold, a book just released by Scott McClennan, ex-White House aide, discusses the manipulation of the press by the administration. Three top network news anchors differed slightly about their roll in news coverage but all agreed that the Bush Administration put extraordinary pressure on the media and even threatened Katie Couric with being blocked access of information during the war. One problem the media faced was not being able to “independently verify the administration’s allegations.”
Here is a quote from Katie Couric “There was such a significant march to war, and people who questioned it very early on and as the war progressed were really considered unpatriotic,†and she added. “I think that it did affect the level of aggressiveness that was exercised by the media, I really do.†The media was expected to report the party line to the public and for the most part did.
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