The endless show that seems to fill America's every waking moment --
and many of its nightmares -- could be called "Media Jeopardy!"
Before proceeding, here’s a reminder of the rules: Listen to the
answer and then try to come up with the question.
Let’s get started. The first category is “Media Untouchables.”
* They’re an ideological pair and stylistic opposites. On
television, one is a slathering fount of bombast, the other is icy
cerebellum, but both are widely syndicated columnists dedicated to helping
the right wing of the Republican Party. One had a role in the scandal
involving the Bush administration’s payback “outing” of a critic’s wife
who was a CIA undercover agent. The other has been guilty of numerous
ethical lapses, from unacknowledged conflicts-of-financial-interest to
utilizing debate-prep papers stolen from the Carter White House to coach
then-challenger Ronald Reagan in the fall of 1980. Yet neither man seems
to suffer professional or legal consequences.
Who are Robert Novak and George Will?
* This cable network, partly owned by a major Pentagon contractor,
has been trying to “outfox Fox” ever since the start of the Iraq invasion.
What is MSNBC?
Our next category is “Prejudice and Jingoism.”
* He has spewed out vile bigotry against Arabs on his morning show
that’s nationally simulcast on radio and television. Yet network managers
don’t seem to mind, and many politicians across the narrow
liberal-to-conservative spectrum never seem to tire of cozying up to him
on the air.
Who is Don Imus?
* While tributes are often paid to members of the U.S. Armed Forces
who lose their lives in Iraq, these human beings are rarely mourned in the
mainstream American media.
Who are Iraqi people?
Now it’s on to “Not-So-Public Broadcasting.”
* This network is now under so much effective political pressure
from the Bush administration that alarm has spread across the nation. In a
May 2005 editorial (headlined “A Publicly Funded Fox News?”), the St.
Petersburg Times expressed concern that the network is apt to
“increasingly find itself at the mercy of government and corporate masters
with deep pockets and hidden agendas.” Yet the current media debate rarely
mentions that -- for more than a quarter of a century -- this network has
done very little to challenge those masters ... and much to help them.
What is PBS?
We’re now in Double Jeopardy. The category is “Real Live
Journalists.”
* As a Newsday reporter specializing in science and health, this
journalist broke new ground with books and countless articles. She won the
Peabody, the Polk and the Pulitzer prizes. In February 2005, resigning
from the Newsday staff, she left a memo to colleagues that noted the
recent evolution of the newspaper’s ownership, first with management
changes at the top of Times Mirror and then the purchase by the Tribune
company. “Ever since the Chandler Family plucked Mark Willes from General
Foods, placing him at the helm of Times Mirror with a mandate to destroy
the institutions in ways that would boost dividends, journalism has
suffered at Newsday,” the reporter wrote. What’s more, she added, “The
deterioration we experienced at Newsday was hardly unique. All across
America news organizations have been devoured by massive corporations, and
allegiance to stockholders, the drive for higher share prices, and push
for larger dividend returns trumps everything that the grunts in the
newsrooms consider their missions.”
Who is Laurie Garrett?
* This intrepid journalist broke many stories about the Iran-Contra
scandal during the 1980s when he worked for The Associated Press. Years
ago, he founded the website ConsortiumNews.com, which features ongoing
investigative journalism.
Who is Robert Parry?
* She has covered the White House for longer than anyone else alive.
Now, as a syndicated columnist, she is so insightful that President Bush
goes out of his way to prevent her from asking questions at news
conferences.
Who is Helen Thomas?
Now, we’re moving into Final Jeopardy. Our ultimate question is in
the category of “Use It or Lose It.”
* They’re just a few words. And these days, many people in top
positions of government power don’t seem to have the foggiest notion what
they mean. But those words express the most crucial principle that
journalists and the rest of us are depending on to preserve a
constitutional system in the United States.
Time’s up. Can I see your answer please?
That’s correct. The First Amendment.
___
Norman Solomon’s latest book, “War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits
Keep Spinning Us to Death,” will be published in early summer. His columns
and other writings can be found at:
www.normansolomon.com