When the Press Fails: Political Power and the News Media from Iraq to KatrinaA sobering look at the intimate relationship between political power and the news media, When the Press Fails argues the dependence of reporters on official sources disastrously thwarts coverage of dissenting voices from outside the Beltway. The result is both an indictment of official spin and an urgent call to action that questions why the mainstream press failed to challenge the Bush administration’s arguments for an invasion of Iraq or to illuminate administration policies underlying the Abu Ghraib controversy. Drawing on revealing interviews with Washington insiders and analysis of content from major news outlets, the authors illustrate the media’s unilateral surrender to White House spin whenever oppositional voices elsewhere in government fall silent. Contrasting these grave failures with the refreshingly critical reporting on Hurricane Katrina—a rare event that caught officials off guard, enabling journalists to enter a no-spin zone—When the Press Fails concludes by proposing new practices to reduce reporters’ dependence on power. “The hand-in-glove relationship of the U.S. media with the White House is mercilessly exposed in this determined and disheartening study that repeatedly reveals how the press has toed the official line at those moments when its independence was most needed.”—George Pendle, Financial Times “Bennett, Lawrence, and Livingston are indisputably right about the news media’s dereliction in covering the administration’s campaign to take the nation to war against Iraq.”—Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune “[This] analysis of the weaknesses of Washington journalism deserves close attention.”—Russell Baker, New York Review of Books |
Contents
1 | |
The Case of the Iraq War | 13 |
A Theory News and Democracy | 46 |
Abu Ghraib and the Inner Workings of Press Dependence | 72 |
Why It Matters When the Press Fails | 108 |
Spin Status and Intimidation in the Washington Political Culture | 131 |
A Standard for Public Accountability | 165 |
Evidence Suggesting a Connection between Abu Ghraib and US Torture Policy | 199 |
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Abu Ghraib story abuse accountability Al Qaeda American appeared Bennett Bush administration Bush administration’s challenge chapter Cheney citizens claims Clarke CNN effect Congress coverage credible critical daily debate decision Defense democracy Democrats detainees detention Downing Street Memo editorial Entman events at Abu evidence example foreign policy framing going high-level Hurricane Katrina independent press inside institutional intelligence International interrogation interview investigative Iraq war Iraqi issues journalism journalists Lawrence Wilkerson leaked Livingston mainstream press memo ment mistreatment officials operations pattern Pentagon perspectives political President Bush presidential press independence press system primary label prisoners Qaeda question reality Republican responsibility Rumsfeld Saddam scandal Secretary Senator soldiers sources spin standard sustained Taguba report term torture Terror tion torture policy U.S. forces U.S. military U.S. press United war in Iraq War on Terror Washington consensus Washington Post Washington power watchdog White House Wilson WMDs York