Letters to the Editor
ptboya
Published Letters: 3
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Jennings behind the camera
[Read the article: National journalists believe you should trust them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]An academic expert on the Middle East has told this story about his/her experience being interviewed by Peter Jennings. When the camera had stopped rolling some discussion continued and Jennings asserted that there were certain subjects, the case for the War in Iraq and the assertions about WMD being the particular cases in question, that the people upstairs at ABC considered taboo and would not tolerate discussion of. So much for the trustworthiness of Jennings' network. He knew the limits well enough to convey them in private.
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On faith
[Read the article: National journalists believe you should trust them]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think it wise to have an almost visceral distrust of those who ask to be taken on faith alone. The first thing to be done when someone says "trust me" is to look at the historical record that would engender such trust. Glenn has done a good deal of research to show that ABC's and Ross's claims of trustworthiness come with a certain fishy taint.
More anecdotal support for Glenn's claims. I also remember when media news departments were not subservient to the entertainment divisions of the various networks. Foreign policy coverage has been systematically downgraded as to be almost non-existent. And while my trust in media has gradually diminished as I've aged and honed my skepticism, the build-up to the Iraq war was, for me, the last straw. As to all the claims made by the administration and magnified by the media megaphone, they were rendered bogus by a modicum of google-ing. That the media star reporters, with all their resources, were gulled by these claims, showed that they were either in the pocket of their sources or exceptionally lazy. Take your choice. Bottom line, corporate news sources have huge disincentives to bucking the powers of the moment and considerable incentives for allying with them. They should never be taken on faith.
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Thank you Glenn...
[Read the article: House Democrats reject telecom amnesty, warrantless surveillance]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You have consistently spoken with strength and righteousness about the corruption of the US constitution implicit in both the NSA spying and retroactive immunity for the telecoms. Let's at least hope that if the Senate doesn't drop the immunity provision the House will represent an insurmountable impasse. FISA, status quo ante, is sufficient, even if Bush's parting shot is a blanket pardon. The next administration, unless McCain, can lift the cover and then stamp out the cockroaches fleeing for the darkness.