Does the Press Like a War?

I know why we’re fighting a war Iraq – no, it’s not because of WMD, or links to 9/11, or "terror," or for any of the other reasons that those advocating the war suggest. We are fighting a war in Iraq because of a fundamental failure of our democratic system. As anyone who stayed awake in Civics class knows, the framers of our government believed in a system of checks and balances to ensure that the Executive Branch does not run roughshod over the Legislature, that the Legislature does not squash the Judiciary, and so forth. The press is supposed to be the “fourth estate:” an institution whose very existence is protected by the constitution from governmental interference. The media have a sacred duty to aggressively report the news as accurately as they can. Leaving out sources of important information is hardly accurate reporting. In the lead up to Iraq, the Bush Administration was hell-bent on war, the Congress was controlled by Republicans, who loved their cowboy president, and the Democrats in Congress were too afraid of being called "weak on national security" to question the administration. The judiciary is in no position to make a ruling on going to war, so it was left up to the press to carefully and accurately report information leading up to the war. Unfortunately, they ended up being a mouthpiece for the administration. There was very little evaluation or corroboration of the claims made by the administration in the mainstream media. I suppose that they sold papers, but they did the American people, and the world, a terrible disservice.

As I read in this interesting article, the mainstream press, in general, seemed intent on encouraging the American people to support a war in Iraq. Now that Iran seems to be the next target in the “axis of evil,” ABC News is using anonymous sourcing of information for its reporting on Iran’s nuclear program. Specifically, ABC News cites only "sources" for its reporting that "Iran has more than tripled its ability to produce enriched uranium in the last three months," and "Iran could have enough material for a nuclear bomb by 2009." No more information about the "source" of this information is given.

By failing to reveal even the most basic information about its sources, ABC News’ viewers cannot be informed consumers of information. I assume that the anonymous sources ABC News is using are officials from the Bush Administration. Unfortunately, this administration has demonstrated that it will mislead the press and the public when it is in its political interests to do so. ABC News’ response to “just trust us” is completely inadequate; we were asked to trust the press and this administration before, and here we are entering the fifth year of a terrible war.