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November 28, 2006Iraq: Bloggers “premature,” press “focused” - UPDATED:::UPDATE:::Scroll down for original post::: Bruce Kesler points out that CBS Public Eye’s Brian Montopoli (an official journalist - thank God - we can all relax now) has checked out Curt’s work at Flopping Aces and Patterico’s work and he’s getting the feeling that we “right-wing bloggers” are a mite distrustful of the press, and darn it, that’s not really fair. Full disclosure: I’ve exchanged email correspondance with Brian several times and he has always struck me as a genial and pleasant fellow; I have no animus toward him or the folks he works with over at Public Eye. But, still. CENTCOM is saying “this didn’t happen” and Brian is saying, “now, this is premature, you know…and, and the press usually gets it right!” It’s important to remember that we don’t actually yet know if the AP’s stories are “bogus.” They may well be. They may not. Reporters face unique challenges in a war, and it’s worthwhile to question the way they operate in Iraq, on everything from the necessary-but-risky use of stringers to the reliance on named and anonymous sources that may not be trustworthy. But because of their instinctive distrust of the mainstream media, some bloggers have drawn conclusions that, at this point, strike me as premature. You know, I can see that Brian is trying to be sort of even-handed here, but was he absent during the “right-wing bloggers” tutorial on fake photos (”fauxtography”) being reported as real? Did he forget the time Newsweek made things very difficult for our troops by running a cover story absent of credible sources, which cost 15 lives? Fer cryin’ out loud, is the whole world suffering from short-term memory loss? Has Brian, and others, forgotten that the NY Times (”the paper of record” and the shining jewel in the increasingly tarnished crown of journalism) just last month spun John Kerry’s “botched joke” into something completely dishonest? Has he - and everyone - forgotten that on November 3 - just a few days before the elections the same paper hauled out the news that the Stoopit Bushies (prolly Dumya hisself) had posted Saddam’s Nuke Plans online for everyone and Iran to see, only to realize (oops!) that in doing so they were also revealing that Saddam was a year away from having nukes which ummm…sorta validated Stoopit Bush. That story quickly went down the memory hole and I don’t believe it was picked up by a single wire-service or network, and I’m pretty sure a Nexis-Lexis search won’t turn up much, either. Nah. Only premature, hot-headed right-wing bloggers followed that episode of Timestanic-meets-another-Iceberg. And crap, probably some of us have even forgotten it, already. I suspect the press relies quite a lot on the fact that most Americans no longer have the attention span of a single news cycle. I find it a little terrifying, frankly. So, who are the rubes here, the folks in the press who use questionable information and pictures to tell their stories, or the bloggers who check this stuff out at the risk of being called “partisans” (snort! Hello, Kettle? Black!) and being lectured to about making “premature” assertions. Premature. You know. Like all year we read that Bush’s prescription plan is…a fiasco. but yesterday we read Success of Drug Plan Challenges Democrats and some in the press suggested that the Dems don’t need to fix what works well and is cost-efficient. Was the press premature in describing the plan Bush signed “a fiasco” and more? I have never forgotten Evan Thomas pronouncing that the press would give Kerry/Edwards “ten to fifteen percent” more votes than they would have ordinarily gotten. And they did it, too. John Kerry was such an awful candidate the 2004 election should never have been as close as it was, (and the dubious vote in Wisconsin and elsewhere never were really scrutinized). We heard the press talk to everyone, right down to the ANG Dentist, about Bush’s “fake” service (although little of his moronic skill in flying the notoriously difficult F102 fighter jets), but never anything on the legitimate questions surrounding John Kerry’s own (”heroic”) service. Gee…why would those “right-wing bloggers” be so damn suspicious of the press? The press is getting almost everything right…just a few little oopsies and boo-boos here and there…right? I a meeean old right-wing blogger, to bring all this up, I know. Except I still believe I am a classical liberal at heart, searching for a home. And I’m still an idealist. I still want to believe that our free press is indeed free and not encumbered by agendas, partisan-hackery, laziness and some malicious intent. I want to believe that when someone like Vaughn Ververs (a good writer whom I like very much) writes, “at least the media is focused on Iraq” that this might be a good thing, holding some promise, and not a shudder-inducing moment helping to create a real fiasco. I want our press to be healthy and honest and accountable. Our country will not survive with sick, BDS-infected media that only tells what it wants to tell, instead of what it damn well should. Is it really asking too much? I didn’t mean to write so much. I have to get back to work. Freaking press always gets me riled. http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/11/28/iraq-bloggers-premature-press-focused/trackback/ 15 Responses to “Iraq: Bloggers “premature,” press “focused” - UPDATED” |
Hence, you might want to 
November 28th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
Problem is… Bruce Kessler doesn’t have any coroborating support for the story.
No other media or news source can coroborate any part of the AP story in question.
So, Yeah, Bruce, we’re all just a little bit skeptical.
November 28th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
I noted today that “If public officials are subject to scrutiny because they are in a position to influence public policy, then why aren’t journalists subject to the same scrutiny? They too, are in a powerful position to influence the public and public opinion. Should not they too, be subject to the same scrutiny as others that have so much influence?”
Don’t you want to know who deliberately wrote up the NYT Kerry phoney baloney story? Don’t you want to know who the the editor was that OK’ed that drivel for publication?
Journalists are afforded certain constitutional priviledges, so they might be free to practice.
Doctors, lawyers, engineers and plumbers too, are each licenced and given certain credentials and priviledges. That said, if they deliberately misuse or abuse those priviledges and credentials, they are held accountable.
Why should journalists be any different?
November 28th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
Yes. CENTCOM has no credibility at all. But the unnamed or fake sources do.
November 28th, 2006 at 5:09 pm
oops double posted… sorry… delete the second, and this third, please.
November 28th, 2006 at 5:14 pm
Heh. No prob, Lawrence - admin. But I kept the third ’cause it’s cute.
November 28th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
[...] Courtesy of The Anchoress: [...]
November 28th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
(UPDATE:AP REPLY) CBS Blog Not Ready To Believe AP Stringer Exposes
Brian Montopoli blogs for CBS Public Eye. He self-describes his credentials as a journalist here: I came to Public Eye from Columbia Journalism Review, where I wrote about everything from the press coverage of the 2004 presidential campaign to the…
November 28th, 2006 at 7:54 pm
[...] We are not advocating journalists not do their job. In fact, we are all for a vibrant and vigorous press, doing what they claim they do. However, as we have noted, we have a right to know exactly who is doing the reporting and what their credibility issues are, if any. This is especially important because most people rely on the media to help form their political identity- and as The Anchoress notes in Iraq: Bloggers “Premature,” Press “Focused” they are perfectly aware of the influence they wield: I suspect the press relies quite a lot on the fact that most Americans no longer have the attention span of a single news cycle. I find it a little terrifying, frankly. [...]
November 28th, 2006 at 11:40 pm
“Fer cryin’ out loud, is the whole world suffering from short-term memory loss?”
————-
A lack of honesty, denial, bigotry seems more likely…
The MSM couldn’t become more deceitful these days.
Nancy Pelosi is still referencing the 9-11 Commission to deny the presence of al Qaeda in Iraq today. But that amusing Commission studied relations between al Qaeda and Iraq PRIOR to the US led removal of Saddam.
Yet, the Media will just hide the nonsense.
Gregory on NBC, simply lied about the latest Pelosi ignorance.
They worked so hard to diminish the idea, Iraq was a central part of the GWOT.
Does the truth matter anymore?
Do they even care about the liberated Iraqis who are fighting for Freedom?
Are they even concerned with the Militant Radical Terrorists who continue to kill?
November 28th, 2006 at 11:47 pm
[...] Iraq: Bloggers “premature”, press “focused” [...]
November 29th, 2006 at 12:03 am
MSM - More Carrying of Enemy Propaganda
HT Flopping Aces
*****SCROLL FOR UPDATES*****
Doesn’t anyone ever check their stories anymore?
RBT
*****
Yesterday there were two incidents that I wrote about involving the use of …
November 29th, 2006 at 12:14 am
Time to send the working Press to the Penny Savers of our nation. Cancel your subscriptions, don’t watch their product–it’s that simple folks. The stopped reporting the truth and facts long ago and substituted “truthiness”–what they BELIEVE to be true, absent fact, logic, and evidence.
November 29th, 2006 at 6:23 am
MSM engaged in running gun-battle with U.S. Forces
Has there ever been a time in American history that the Department of Defense (or its predecessor, the War Department) was forced to mount “information operations” against the mainstream media? I strongly encourage all bloggers to link to the DOD’s…
November 29th, 2006 at 6:43 am
I am very disturbed about gross distortions (lies) in the MSM. Most Americans are so preoccupied chasing wealth and pampering their “chillren” that what gets reported in a single news cycle is believed, and any minor clarification (telling the truth) is lost forever. We are at war for our very lives, and the media aids and abets the enemy at every turn out of hatred for GWB. We are in big trouble.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:46 am
I majored in journalism at The Ohio State University in the early 60s and NOTHING being done or said by the mainstream lying scum media was EVER taught there. Used to be that “yellow journalism” was a perjorative term and practice. Now it’s the norm. I watch and listen to Fox News and - when I’m playing solitaire on my cable - I see a bit of CNN but that ‘mute’ button is a wondrous thing.
What are we to do about this, really? I’m at a loss - other than canceling our subscriptions - there will still be sheople who will buy the load of horse puckey being shoveled by these cretins in the mainstream media.
Brilliant writing as always, Anchoress. Our only hope is to pray like crazy and continue to do our best to try to keep these bozos honest.