News media falling short in watchdog role, critics say

[cal04]

It was a big week for accountability in Washington.

Military leaders had to explain to Congress how they let war veterans fester in moldy, roach-infested buildings at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, was convicted on perjury and obstruction charges.

But there's another Washington institution that many say needs an accountability moment: the news media.

In both events, experts say, the country would have been better served if big news outlets had taken a more aggressive watchdog attitude. The Libby case especially illustrates that too many elite members of the media are more interested in cultivating Washington power brokers than in maintaining skeptical, independent and arms-length relationships with them, challenging their assertions and holding them to account for their failings.

The consequences can be enormous: The country went to war in Iraq on false or exaggerated evidence trumpeted by anonymous sources through compliant media. And U.S. forces have been at war since 2001, but only in 2007 did the Walter Reed abuses come to light, as the elite media ignored earlier reports from smaller outlets, such as the online magazine Salon, rather than credit and build on them.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16863000.htm

[robinlynne]

1. no, you don't say....

[SharonAnn]

4. Oh no! I'm shocked that they've just discovered that! I thought the secret was well-kept.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. Understatement of the century, that!..nt

[agincourt]

3. Well they are actually a bunch of pit bulls on one hand,

of protecting the GOPig party through thick and thin. Even the Plame case is a cover-up because all we hear about is damage to an agents career, nothing about the damage to national security.

[ixion]

5. the MSM has enabled all of this to happen. if there had been honest journalism

instead of cheerleading, BushCo and the rethug congress would've never ruined as much as they did, IMO.