David Barstow provided a fascinating report in yesterday’s New York Times, about the Bush administration’s courting of retired military brass who provide military analysis to the TV networks and other media outlets.
“Members of this group have echoed administration talking points, sometimes even when they suspected the information was false or inflated,” Barstow wrote. “Some analysts acknowledge they suppressed doubts because they feared jeopardizing their access.”
The Times sued the Defense Department to get access to thousands of e-mail messages, transcripts and records about private briefings and trips to Iraq and Guantanamo.
The records revealed a concerted effort to deploy the analysts to blunt news coverage that was critical of the Bush Administration’s military operations.
Media outlets do not hold these analysts to the same ethical standards that prohibit full-time journalists from engaging in business activities that would conflict with their coverage. Many analysts have close connections to military contractors trying to win government business.
Fox used the greatest number of analysts involved in the Pentagon effort. However, NBC, CNN, CBS and ABC also used these analysts.
The list of analysts was approved by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who met with the group repeatedly. When David H. Petraeus became commanding general in Iraq last year, one of his early meetings was with the analysts.
A 2005 internal memorandum, obtained by the Times, shows why interest went so high up. Written by a Pentagon official who had accompanied analysts to Iraq, the memo noted the analysts’ impact on network news coverage. “They have now become the go-to guys not only on breaking stories, but they influence the views on issues,” she wrote.
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