Imagine this ‘‘Twilight Zone’’ scenario: Two reporters reveal that the government is misleading the country into war. But few people pay attention because those reporters don’t appear regularly on television or work for one of the highest-profile publications.
This true story is recounted in ‘‘Buying the War,’’ a blistering indictment of how journalists failed in the months before the Iraq war. This gutsy program is essential viewing for explaining how punditry often overshadows journalism on television.
PBS - KTSC-TV - presents the 90-minute documentary at 8 p.m. (MDT) today. Part of the cast: Tim Russert, Phil Donahue and Bob Simon.
The messenger himself is Bill Moyers. And if you’re no fan of his, you still shouldn’t ignore his insights into how the media work.
‘‘Buying the War’’ celebrates Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay, reporters for Knight Ridder, the newspaper chain now owned by McClatchy. Skeptical of the Bush administration’s claims about Iraq, the reporters started digging and writing.
The duo explained that terrorism experts didn’t buy the administration’s attempts to connect Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida. The reporters realized that Iraqi defectors were conning the administration. The reporters said there was little evidence to support Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that the Iraqi leader could acquire nuclear weapons quickly.
Do you find those stories too critical? John Walcott, the reporters’ boss, defends their work by saying everyone should be behind U.S. soldiers.
‘‘The question for us in journalism is, are we really behind them when we fail to do our jobs?’’ Wolcott asks. ‘‘Is that really the kinda support that they deserve?’’
Those who didn’t do their jobs include such influential sources as The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, CNN, CBS and the White House press corps.
‘‘We weren’t smart enough, we weren’t alert enough,’’ former CBS anchor Dan Rather says.
‘‘The people at Knight Ridder were calling the colonels and the lieutenants and the people in the CIA and finding out that intelligence is not very good,’’ says Walter Isaacson, former chairman of CNN. ‘‘We should’ve all been doing that.’’
So how did the sharp Knight Ridder reporting go unnoticed? ‘‘It wasn’t reverberating inside Washington, and therefore, people weren’t picking it up,’’ says reporter Walter Pincus of The Washington Post.
Pincus did his job in sharply explaining how the president’s inner circle marketed the war. That case played, over and over, on chat programs and cable.
‘‘You put on the pro-Bush cast and the anti-Bush cast, and they go at it,’’ says reporter Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post. ‘‘But that’s not a debate that’s particularly well-suited to shedding light on whether or not the Bush administration’s case for war rested on some kind of factual basis.’’
The administration received support from such pundits as William Safire, Thomas Friedman, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol and Peter Beinart. Only Beinart takes part in ‘‘Buying the War’’ and says he was ‘‘tragically wrong.’’
‘‘Being a pro-war pundit means never having to say you’re sorry,’’ says Norm Solomon, author of ‘‘War Made Easy.’’
The rise of punditry has changed television news profoundly. ‘‘It’s a lot cheaper to hire . . . pundits and have talk shows on the air than actually have bureaus and reporters,’’ Isaacson says.
Fox News Channel has used punditry with lucrative results. But Roger Ailes, the channel’s boss, declined to appear in Moyers’ program. An assistant said Ailes is ‘‘writing a book on how Fox has changed the face of American broadcasting and doesn’t want to scoop himself,’’ Moyers says.
British television raised more probing questions before the war began. In the United States, everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Bill O’Reilly stifled people who raised questions. Many pundits who advocated for war continue to be frequent guests.
Reporters Landay and Strobel were never invited on the major talk shows. Landay recalls, however, that C-Span invited him to appear.
The two deserve the showcase that Moyers gives them in one of the most important programs this year. If you’re worried about the state of journalism, look here for vital answers.'
This true story is recounted in ‘‘Buying the War,’’ a blistering indictment of how journalists failed in the months before the Iraq war. This gutsy program is essential viewing for explaining how punditry often overshadows journalism on television.
PBS - KTSC-TV - presents the 90-minute documentary at 8 p.m. (MDT) today. Part of the cast: Tim Russert, Phil Donahue and Bob Simon.
The messenger himself is Bill Moyers. And if you’re no fan of his, you still shouldn’t ignore his insights into how the media work.
‘‘Buying the War’’ celebrates Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay, reporters for Knight Ridder, the newspaper chain now owned by McClatchy. Skeptical of the Bush administration’s claims about Iraq, the reporters started digging and writing.
The duo explained that terrorism experts didn’t buy the administration’s attempts to connect Saddam Hussein to al-Qaida. The reporters realized that Iraqi defectors were conning the administration. The reporters said there was little evidence to support Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertion that the Iraqi leader could acquire nuclear weapons quickly.
Do you find those stories too critical? John Walcott, the reporters’ boss, defends their work by saying everyone should be behind U.S. soldiers.
‘‘The question for us in journalism is, are we really behind them when we fail to do our jobs?’’ Wolcott asks. ‘‘Is that really the kinda support that they deserve?’’
Those who didn’t do their jobs include such influential sources as The New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, CNN, CBS and the White House press corps.
‘‘We weren’t smart enough, we weren’t alert enough,’’ former CBS anchor Dan Rather says.
‘‘The people at Knight Ridder were calling the colonels and the lieutenants and the people in the CIA and finding out that intelligence is not very good,’’ says Walter Isaacson, former chairman of CNN. ‘‘We should’ve all been doing that.’’
So how did the sharp Knight Ridder reporting go unnoticed? ‘‘It wasn’t reverberating inside Washington, and therefore, people weren’t picking it up,’’ says reporter Walter Pincus of The Washington Post.
Pincus did his job in sharply explaining how the president’s inner circle marketed the war. That case played, over and over, on chat programs and cable.
‘‘You put on the pro-Bush cast and the anti-Bush cast, and they go at it,’’ says reporter Howard Kurtz of The Washington Post. ‘‘But that’s not a debate that’s particularly well-suited to shedding light on whether or not the Bush administration’s case for war rested on some kind of factual basis.’’
The administration received support from such pundits as William Safire, Thomas Friedman, Charles Krauthammer, William Kristol and Peter Beinart. Only Beinart takes part in ‘‘Buying the War’’ and says he was ‘‘tragically wrong.’’
‘‘Being a pro-war pundit means never having to say you’re sorry,’’ says Norm Solomon, author of ‘‘War Made Easy.’’
The rise of punditry has changed television news profoundly. ‘‘It’s a lot cheaper to hire . . . pundits and have talk shows on the air than actually have bureaus and reporters,’’ Isaacson says.
Fox News Channel has used punditry with lucrative results. But Roger Ailes, the channel’s boss, declined to appear in Moyers’ program. An assistant said Ailes is ‘‘writing a book on how Fox has changed the face of American broadcasting and doesn’t want to scoop himself,’’ Moyers says.
British television raised more probing questions before the war began. In the United States, everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Bill O’Reilly stifled people who raised questions. Many pundits who advocated for war continue to be frequent guests.
Reporters Landay and Strobel were never invited on the major talk shows. Landay recalls, however, that C-Span invited him to appear.
The two deserve the showcase that Moyers gives them in one of the most important programs this year. If you’re worried about the state of journalism, look here for vital answers.'
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