In a great new 4-part series titled News War, PBS Frontline examines the battle between the White House & the national media and how they both fight to set the national agenda. In the first part that aired on Tuesday, Lowell Bergman investigates the Plame affair and breaks down how the Bush administration manipulated the media, which, in turn, manipulated and exaggerated the threat posed by Saddam Hussein.
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Download The entire first part can be streamed here. Check here for local listings and extended interviews.
In his first post over at Salon, Glenn discusses how Michael Gordon -- who, along with Judith Miller, penned one of the most influential and journalistically irresponsible WMD stories in the run-up to the war in the Times -- was used by BushCo to advance false WMD claims. More alarmingly, Glenn argues, he's fulfilling the same purpose when it comes to Iran.
On the day that article was published, Dick Cheney appeared on Meet the Press and he specifically cited Gordon and Miller's article as "evidence" that Saddam was pursuing nuclear weapons:
VICE PRES. CHENEY: Specifically aluminum tubes. There's a story in The New York Times this morning-this is — I don't — and I want to attribute The Times. I don't want to talk about, obviously, specific intelligence sources, but it's now public that, in fact, he has been seeking to acquire, and we have been able to intercept and prevent him from acquiring through this particular channel, the kinds of tubes that are necessary to build a centrifuge… Read more…
