alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

April 26, 2007

Jumping Journalists Jimbo

by @ 4:37 pm. Filed under hacks

Atrios looks at White House Correspondent Knoller’s criticism of Bill Moyer’s program, “Buying the News.” Knoller, it seems has a severe case of amnesia. As Digby puts it: “A whole bunch of America sat there watching these sycophantic performances with our jaws agape, wondering if we had lost our minds.”

When Knoller complains that some of the questions asked during that pre-war press conference were close to being actual questions, he’s either not able to look at the situation objectively, or he’s being dishonest. I tend to believe the latter. I notice for instance that Knoller skips over one of Moyers’ biggest complaints. The press conference was scripted, but everyone acted like it was real.

Knoller also closes his op-ed by pulling what I’ll call a “Rummy”. He asks himself simple rhetorical questions, then answers them. For instance,

Did we report what the President said about his case for war? Of course we did. That’s our job. Did we also report that his views were challenged or disputed by others? Absolutely. Were questions raised about the veracity of the president’s arguments? Certainly.

Did reporters stop the U.S. from going to war in Iraq? No. Could reporters have done a better job? Always.

Should Knoller go back to the tapes before he passes judgement on Moyers? Could be. Did he sell his soul? Very likely. Was this the work of an honest, objective journalist? No way.

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hip·po·pot·a·mus n. A notion, perhaps distinct from conventional wisdom, that needs to be verified by reality-based scrutiny.

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