Iraq

Pentagon, TV Networks Fear Debating Iraq Propaganda Scandal - Stauber vs. Zelnick on NewsHour

by John Stauber — April 25, 2008 - 11:31am
  • Topics: Internet, Journalism, Iraq, Ethics, Propaganda, U.S. Government

    • I debate Bob Zelnick on PBS NewsHour

    This Sunday's stunning, front-page New York Times revelations of the Pentagon military analyst program have been met with a wall of silence and cover-up on network television news. America's TV networks -- ABC, NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN and FOX -- are where most Americans get most of their news, and they are the main culprits in allowing Donald Rumsfeld and Torie Clarke to turn them into the primary propaganda tool for selling the Iraq war to the public.

    PBS NewsHour covered this issue in a televised debate April 24 pitting me against Robert Zelnick, former ABC Pentagon correspondent and now chair of the Boston University journalism department. (Zelnick is also affiliated with the Hoover Institute, a conservative think tank.) No one from the Pentagon would agree to appear on the PBS show, nor would anyone appear from any of the guilty TV networks.

    My debate with Zelnick is now on YouTube, where you can watch it yourself. The NewsHour report on the Pentagon pundits that preceded our debate is also online, and if you have a slow internet connection (or if you find my face and voice too irritating to tolerate), you can also read the online transcript.

    Featured Participatory Project: Who Are the Pentagon's Pundits?

    by Diane Farsetta — April 22, 2008 - 3:02pm

    On Sunday, the New York Times outed the Pentagon's "military analyst program," an extensive effort to cultivate retired military officers as "message force multipliers" or "surrogates" spouting Bush administration talking points on Iraq and other hot-button issues. We've compiled a list of known participants, and started SourceWatch profiles on each. Can you help us uncover more about the Pentagon's pundits? What did they say, on what news programs?

    Main Source: 
    SourceWatch, April 23, 2008

    Media's Military Analysts Involved in "Psyops on Steroids"

    by Diane Farsetta — April 21, 2008 - 10:46am

    In early 2002, as "detailed planning for a possible Iraq invasion" began, then-Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Victoria Clarke launched the Pentagon military analyst program as "the main focus of

    Main Source: 
    New York Times, April 20, 2008

    Why Winter Soldier Got the Cold Shoulder

    by Diane Farsetta — April 9, 2008 - 4:37pm

    Why didn't the New York Times cover the "Winter Soldier" hearings organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), during which soldiers testified about their experiences in Iraq?

    Main Source: 
    Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, April 8, 2008

    War? What War?

    by Sheldon Rampton — April 3, 2008 - 8:30am
  • Topics: Internet, Journalism, Iraq

    • "Five years later, the United States remains at war in Iraq, but there are days when it would be hard to tell from a quick look at television news, newspapers and the Internet," observes New York Times reporter Richard Pérez-Peña. "Media attention on Iraq began to wane after the first months of fighting, but as recently as the middle of last year, it was still the most-covered topic. Since then, Iraq coverage by major American news sources has plummeted, to about one-fifth of what it was last summer, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism."

    The past week saw a dramatic escalation in violence in Iraq and rising civilian deaths, prompting analysts to warn that "Iraqis may be about to witness a new phase in the cycle of violence ... intra-Shi'ite bloodletting that could tear Iraq apart and more deeply embroil U.S. forces." But even these developments have barely cast a media ripple.

    The Iraq war has also been losing ground for attention on the internet, according to a recent report which shows that "the war in Iraq continues to decline in search interest, down 120 percent over the past three and a half years," while interest turns to topics such as Paris Hilton, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, Heath Ledger and the latest YouTube video.

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