American Media- Fearful or Shills to Neocons?

Media panels: Fear of seeming unpatriotic prevented critical Iraq reportin


Media panels: Fear of seeming unpatriotic prevented critical Iraq reporting
By Mielikki Org, Associated Press, 3/19/2004 17:13

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) Competitive pressures and a fear of appearing unpatriotic discouraged journalists from doing more critical reporting during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, according to reporters and others at a conference on media coverage of the war.

The journalists on the panels at the University of California at Berkeley this week blamed the Bush administration for leaking faulty information, but said the media also has itself to blame for not being more skeptical about the case for war.

''The press did not do their job,'' said Michael Massing, who wrote an article in the New York Review of Books that found The New York Times and The Washington Post particularly at fault.

Journalists fear they will be seen as unpatriotic if they challenge White House statements, said Robert Sheer, a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times.
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http://www.boston.com/dailynews/079/economy/Media_panels_Fear_of_seemi...