The investigation into the cover-up of the circumstances behind Pat Tillman's death is receiving most of the attention today, but be sure not to overlook what we've learned about the Jessica Lynch story.
As this story from NPR makes clear, not only was the entire story about Lynch a lie, her rescue was deliberately delayed by a full day so that the military could videotape her "rescue." This wasn't about lying after the fact in an attempt to cover up harmful or embarrassing facts. It was a carefully planned effort to literally manufacture the truth.
As Thomas Jefferson once said, "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever."
UPDATE: Glenn Greenwald explores what this story tells us about the media:
So, "experienced reporters" Schmidt and Loeb were lied to by their sources, causing them to publish a humiliatingly (though flamboyantly promoted) false "news" story that had a huge impact on how the American press discussed this war. Yet they continue to defend not only their own actions, but those of their lying sources.
This is what turned out to be the real story here -- that "experienced reporters" Schmidt and Loeb were completely manipulated by lying, scheming high-level officials in the military and government, and they fell for it by turning the front page of The Washington Post into a venue for false, highly manipulative government propaganda.So what have Schmidt and Loeb done about that story -- the real story here? Absolutely nothing....
And most of all, Schmidt and Loeb continue to protect the identity of their sources, and will until the day they die. The fact that their sources fed them lies in order to manipulate American public opinion about the war is irrelevant to them. Over and over and over, our most influential American media outlets publish false stories based on government "sources" who purposely lie to them, and they never report on the real story -- who are the government sources lying to the American public while hiding behind shields of anonymity granted to them, and maintained by, our nation's "journalists"?
Most of our nation's journalists do not report on government conduct. They participate in it actively and consciously as government spokesmen. Judy Miller is the symbol of our political press, not its aberration.
The Post claims it has done nothing wrong, choosing instead to shift the blame on its sources. If journalism and stenography were synonymous, that might be a defense.
I must say, I picked an interesting summer to teach Media + Politics.
Subscribe to this blog's feed
