Pentagon Pundits: Urge the FCC to Investigate

It's time to put some heat on TV outlets like CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC for their role in the Pentagon propaganda process leading up to and during the Iraq war. The media outlets misrepresented the objectivity of retired military personnel by presenting them in news reports when in reality they often functioned as a propaganda arm of the Pentagon. Many also had business conflicts of interests in the military industry.

MORE: Who are the Pentagon Pundits?

Now, after New York Times reporter David Barstow has received the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning for reporting on the Pentagon propaganda campaign, the same television outlets have been silent on the subject.

AMY GOODMAN: I think what’s so interesting about this story is not only what the Pentagon has done; it’s the lack of reporting on this by the networks.... How many times have you been invited on the networks—you just won the Pulitzer Prize for this investigation—to explain this story of the networks’ use of these pundits?

DAVID BARSTOW: You know, to be honest with you, I haven’t received many invitations—in fact, any invitations—to appear on any of the main network or cable programs.

These media outlets have licenses governed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Their licenses are based on a public trust and can be revoked by violating that public trust. It's time to remind them of that trust.

Psssst... Do Something

Contact the FCC Commissioners. Ask them to investigate these media outlets for 1) the TV media's misrepresentation of retired military personnel's objectivity, and 2) the TV media's failure to cover the 2009 Pulitzer Prize-winning reporting on the Pentagon propaganda campaign. Ask them to place your complaint and their findings in the file for future consideration during the future relicensing of these media outlets.

Send a copy of your correspondence to the media outlets. Contact information is provided below.

Michael J. Copps: Michael.Copps@fcc.gov
Commissioner Jonathan S. Adelstein: Jonathan.Adelstein@fcc.gov
Commissioner Robert McDowell: Robert.McDowell@fcc.gov

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  

Copy: CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC

Sources:

Democracy Now, "Pentagon Pundits: New York Times Reporter David Barstow Wins Pulitzer Prize for Exposing Military’s Pro-War Propaganda Media Campaign," May 8, 2009.

Military Admits Killing Nine Civilians

We are told...

The U.S. military said Monday that it had accidentally killed nine Iraqi civilians during an operation targeting al-Qaida in Iraq — the deadliest known case of mistaken identity in recent months.

The operative word there is "known"... via the establishment media that is. Those who are reading this probably seek alternative sources of information and know the only thing rare about this event is the military admission.

The other word to parse is "accidentally." As I write, before reading the full AP article, I'm guessing, "hmmm... If this was an air attack by the US, and it probably is, then the military's standard operating procedure is to conduct a collateral damage assessment before bombing. So, is the military saying that it's "accident" was a flawed collateral damage assessment? Did they predict zero civilian deaths, or did they predict only a couple dead civilians rather than nine? An even better question is whether only nine civilians were actually killed."

Sure enough, it was an air attack, the use of which increased five fold from 2006 to 2007.

I grow weary writing about this supposedly rare event, which I've written about before. This is just another government propaganda piece, taking a bad situation and spinning it to give the impression that this is "known" to be a rare "accident." It's not.

Sources:

Associated Press, 9 Iraqi civilians accidentally killed, LAUREN FRAYER, February 4, 2008.

Bush President's Day Propaganda Backfire

Oops! In an attempt to compare his war of terrorism with the American Revolutionary War, Bush inadvertently reversed the roles:

On the field of battle, Washington's forces were facing a mighty empire, and the odds against them were overwhelming. The ragged Continental Army lost more battles than it won, suffered waves of desertions, and stood on the brink of disaster many times.

Now, the US is the "mighty empire," and the "ragged" armies facing the mighty empire are, well, not North American. This "open-mouth-insert-foot" moment isn't Bush's fault. Clearly the speech writers goofed on this one.
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