For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession
of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than
the citizens of America.
It was tough picking through the hubris surrounding the media's presentation
of the Bruce Ivins anthrax case to find the most worthy Media Putz. This
latest chapter of the ongoing saga, during which the FBI gives the media
its so-called evidence of Ivins' guilt, is where the American people really
need an advocate.
The Washington Post has been the target for the FBI's leaks about this case.
But it's clear from recent events that the only advocating The Post is interested
in is on behalf of the FBI and other government agencies. The saddest part
is that uncovering the holes in the government's story would've taken no
more than a basic knowledge of math and the U.S. postal system. But then,
maybe truth is not the concern of The Washington Post.
The Washington Post is taking its self-anointed position of government parrot
outfit way too seriously. Glenn Greenwald, who has been doing a bang-up job
covering this issue via Salon.com, exposes their continued complicity this
week.
Greenwald notes that The Post first published
what the FBI presented as
further proof of Ivins' guilt by way of a supposed timeline (we say "supposed" because
the FBI still won't release actual evidence, just its own interpretation
of the evidence it claims to have). The problem was, the timeline made no
physical sense. There was no way Ivins could have been where the FBI said
he was to do what the FBI insisted he did at the time they said he was there.
Greenwald, as well as several others writing online, quickly pointed out
this out.
So the next logical step was for the FBI to come up with a version of events
that coincided with well-established notions of our space/time continuum,
and leak that to The Post. Which, (surprise, surprise) they did.
Rather than admit that, at best, they don't have a clear grasp of reality,
or at worst, that they're in cahoots with the FBI, The Post artfully
covered for the Feds. Instead of explaining that the FBI leaked to
them an entirely new timeline to cover for their mistake, they wrote that "government
sources offered more detail about Ivins's movements on a critical day in
the case." So now "more detail" = "totally different
story."
While we want to be sure to honor reporters Carrie Johnson and Joby Warrick,
who have been covering the anthrax story for The Post, we want to reserve
credit for where it's truly due. We imagine that when one works for a state-run
newspaper long enough, talking point adherence must be nearly second nature.
Since Greenwald has been so instrumental in fleshing this story out, we
wanted to allow him to vent his frustration with this latest development
in his own words:
"...The Post's role here has been and continues to be what the establishment
media's role generally is -- to serve government sources and amplify their
claims, not to investigate their veracity. That's how it was Saddam Hussein
who was the original anthrax culprit, followed by Steven Hatfill, and now
Bruce Ivins. It's how Jessica Lynch heroically fought off Iraqi goons in
a firefight, how Pat Tillman stood down Al Qaeda monsters until they murdered
him, how Iraq possessed mountains of WMDs, and now, how Russia has assaulted
the consensus values of the Western World by invading a sovereign country
and occupying parts of it for a whole week, etc. etc. All of those narratives
came from the Government directly into the pages of The Washington Post,
which then uncritically conveyed them, often (as in the case of the Jessica
Lynch lies and WMD claims) playing a leading role in doing so...The FBI
is relying, understandably so, on their mindless allies in the media to
depict
its case against Ivins as so airtight that no real investigation is necessary."
Well put, Mr. Greenwald. For those reasons and more, we wish to give this
week's Media Putz Award to The Washington Post.
In the interest of full coverage of the putziness of this entire anthrax
story, we offer three runners-up for this award:
* ABC and Brian Ross, for giving voice and protection to anonymous government
sources who lied about the anthrax coming from Saddam Hussein.
* CNN for parroting the parrots at The Post, gushingly bolstering the weak
FBI case with false information.
* The Associated Press and Matt Apuzzo for characterizing those who question
the official version of events as wacky conspiracy theorists
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