Greg Mitchell, the editor of "Editor & Publisher," did a great opinion piece yesterday ("Pointed Questions on Iraq Often Come from 'The People,' Not the Press") pointing out the courage that regular citizens have shown recently--and the contrasting lack of honesty and valor among the news media:
"For centuries, The Press acted as surrogate for The People. Now, at least in regard to the Iraq war, the reverse often seems to be true.
"While reporters and commentators continue to tiptoe around the question of whether Bush administration officials, right up to the president, deliberately misled the nation into the war, average and not-so-average citizens have raised the charge of "lies" and caused a stir usually reserved for reporters. Is America, or just my own head, about to explode over Iraq?"
Mitchell goes on to point to the examples of Ray McGovern challenging Rumsfeld in Atlanta, Stephen Colbert's performance at the White House Correspondents Association dinner, musician Neil Young's new "Living with War" album, and Harry Taylor, who asked President Bush about the domestic spying program in a question at a town meeting in Charlotte, N.C. The full piece is definitely worth reading. It's at: http://www.editorandpublisher.com/...
Mitchell isn't the only one seeing this. Dan Froomkin, who does the online-only "White House Briefing" for the "Washington Post," made a similar observation on Thursday of this week (the column is at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
"But they [the mainstream media] still haven't addressed the central issue Colbert was raising: Bush's credibility. As it happens, the public is way ahead of them on this one: For more than a year, the polls have consistently been showing that a majority of Americans don't find Bush honest and trustworthy.
"And yet, as I've chronicled time and again in this column, (see, for instance, my Feb. 3 column, It's the Credibility, Stupid ) the mainstream press -- the very folks in that ballroom on Saturday night, the ones who actually have access to the president and his aides -- have allowed that fundamental issue to go unexplored.
"What Colbert was saying about the guy sitting a few feet away from him -- and I think this is what made so many people in that room uncomfortable -- was: Don't believe a word he says."
I've been really inspired by Colbert, Ray McGovern, and other non-press people who have taken a courageous stand in recent weeks. I hope more reporters will start doing their job, and show this same level of courage.