Letters to the Editor

Journalists and their good friends in the White House The wall between the government and the establishment media barely even exists in theory any longer. Glenn Greenwald [2008-08-20]

• Gator90

  The one consistent flaw in GG's generally excellent media criticism is his under-valuation of the purely partisan dynamic that drives our discontent. Since the early 90s, Big Media doesn't serve the Government; it serves the Republican Party and follows the scripts provided.

  But I don't disagree with this. One key theme of my last book is the partnership formed between the establishment media and the right-wing, and how the former serves the latter. Chapter 2 is entitled (I didn't pick this): "How Great American Hypocrites Feed Off One Another -- Right-wing Smears and the Establishment Press" and details how the media and Right work in tandem.

  I agree completely that one of the key biases of the media is its servitude to the GOP - I just don't think that's the only significant bias, and I think it remains to be seen whether, in a Democratic administration, the media returns to something resembling a healthy, vibrant adversarial press. I think they'll try to torpedo the Democratic President with the types of petty, tawdry attacks that plagued Bill Clinton, but that isn't the same as a press that is serving as a meaningful check on Government abuses.

  -- GlennGreenwald
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  Permalink Flag Wednesday, August 20, 2008 09:42 AM
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