Coverage of the Downing St. Hearing just hit the AP wire!

[sabra]

<<SNIP>>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5079408,00.html

Democrats Question U.S. Pre-War Actions

Thursday June 16, 2005 9:16 PM


By PETE YOST

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Some congressional Democrats are insisting that the White House provide more information about what led to the decision to go to war in Iraq, citing a British document known as the ``Downing Street memo'' as evidence intelligence was distorted.

Rep. John Conyers and other Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee conducted a public forum Thursday prompted by documents that have surfaced from inside the British government about prewar planning.

Former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who advised the Bush administration in 2002 that Saddam Hussein had not tried to buy a certain kind of uranium from Africa, said Conyers' hearing was important.

``We are having this discussion today because we failed to have it three years ago when we went to war,'' Wilson said.

....

Wilson has said he believes the leak was retaliation for his critical comments. The Justice Department is investigating and two reporters are being threatened with jail time for refusing to divulge their sources on the issue.

<</SNIP>>

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dchill]

12. De-sanitized -

"intelligence was buried, bullshit was substituted."

[otohara]

2. OMG, It's Official - Now That The AP Has Reported

the rest of our complacent media groups can now pick up the story and maybe, just maybe if we pressure them enough, we might just hear about this on the nightly news.

[babylonsister]

3. Ya mean someone actually got off their ass to write up a

little summary? I'm impressed - NOT!

[sabra]

4. but it means that local media services should pick it up

which leads to exposure...

[Singular73]

5. I thought AP picked up DSM like a week ago?

Or am I imagining things?

[babylonsister]

14. They admitted a day or two ago they dropped the

ball on the DSM story. :eyes:

Edit to add: AP: We "dropped the ball" on Downing memo
As newspaper editors look back and examine why the controversial Downing Street memo, first published by the Times of London on May 1, received so little coverage in their papers, several of them are pointing to the same culprit: the Associated Press. Editors rely on the worldwide wire service to let them know what's worthy of attention, and that's particularly true for international events. In the case of the Downing Street memo out of London, they say the AP simply failed to cover the story.

Jim Cox, USA Today's senior assignment editor for foreign news, tells Salon that when the story first broke last month, "we looked to wires for guidance" but for days didn't see anything. It was a month before the paper reported on the memo; Cox takes the blame for that omission.

On Sunday, the ombudsman at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune addressed readers' complaints about the paper's lack of Downing memo coverage. According to that account, the paper's nation/world editor, Dennis McGrath, was aware of the memo story when it broke in May, and he and his deputies "began watching for a wire story. A week later, they were still watching. 'We were frustrated the wires weren't providing stories on this,' McGrath said." The paper eventually assigned the story to a local reporter.

At the Portland Oregonian recently, public editor Michael Arrieta-Walden covered the same territory: "For an international story, the Oregonian primarily relies on material provided from about 10 wire services. The Associated Press, the world's largest newsgathering organization, essentially didn't cover the document in its reports until last weekend in a story mostly about John Bolton, Bush's nominee to become U.N. ambassador. The document then was reported on in an AP story stemming from last week's news conference involving Blair and Bush."

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/index.html?blog=...

[AuntiBush]

8. Was thinking the same exact thing, A$$-Wise!

[Just Me]

6. Will the co-dependent infotainment HOs pick it up now?

:grr:

[AuntiBush]

7. Now. Let's see if the TV News Stations Look at this: They Get AP

Let's see... I won't hold my breathe! Only C-SPAN 2 will be airing today's conference tomorrow night, Friday at 8:00 PM EST. Rec'd email about 1 hour ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1554832

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. WOW you mean we ... have not been hearing a chirp UNTIL NOW?

:sarcasm:

[librechik]

10. another ap link

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-downing-street-memo,0,5837792.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Contrary1]

11. "Rehashing"

"...White House press secretary Scott McClellan dismissed the memo on Thursday and indicated that no one in the White House plans to respond to the letter.

'This is simply rehashing old debates that have already been discussed,' he said."

I would like nothing better than to see the Idiot Son catapult the propaganda to explain this memo in his own words.

[candy331]

13. So only the Democrats question, that should tell the public that this

should be a bipartisan effort since I would guess all repugs signed on to this war. So all those who refuse to sign on to the hearings were really not deceived by Bush, they use that for cover.