Two stories that show why Cockburn and St. Claire's, Counterpunch, count. One of their hobby horses has been how Bob Woodward has gone from investigative reporter to mouthpiece of reaction. They also have taken on the Guardian for the hatchet job they did on Chomsky. Massive criticism will now rain on Woodward and the Guardian has apologized.
Counterpunch on Woodward.
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I originally posted to this blog, back in the old days, under the moniker "DTP", Defender of The Press.
Very clever, no? I was basically trying to provide what I saw as some reasonable balance to Anton's entertaining but often heavy-handed bashing of the mainstream media.
Anton has asked me what do I think of the Woodward/Miller Axis of Weasels ... well, I am not standing up for those maroons.
I still think papers like the NYTs and Post provide a lot of valuable reporting and some good editorial/opinion writing. Blogs like Anton's could not exist w/o those two papers and other MSM sources.
But the whole Plame thing --and oh yeah the war thing -- has made monkeys out of a lot of journalists. I think there is something very healthy happening in this running gunfight between MSM and blogs/independent press like Counterpunch. There is a big collision going on between old media and new, and what comes out of it is anyone's guess. On the whole, I am feeling encouraged.
I've never had much of an opinion about Miller. I mean, sure, would've been nice if she hadn't been totally wrong about Iraq, but I don't blame journalists for the war in Iraq. I blame the guys who decided to go to war. Miller's bread and butter was "administration sources" and Chalabi. Even I could see back then that those weren't the sources to trust.
I admit to being a fan of Woodward. I mean, he did bring down a really bad president and all. So generally I've been trying to cut him a lot of slack for all the Republican hiney-kissing he seems to have been doing in the last two decades. But this latest thing, I just find it kind of appalling. Come on Bob, say it ain't so.
Too late, I fear.
I agree. The democratic nature of this technology is limitless. We take from the major outlets what we believe and trust and use it to our own ends. In the run up to the war Chalabi's untrustworthyness, Miller's sycophancy, David Kay's truth telling, Mohhamed al Baradei's straightforwardness and Hans Blix's measuredness were all well known. The problem with the mainstream media is that they are WAY to close to government and business because they like dining at the White House and being in with power. We actually need more skepticism so that the rulers will be forced to be more honest. Banal but true.
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