Media

The U.S. sponsored Iraqi Media Network -- planned to include a 24-hour satellite channel, two land-based TV channels, two radio channels, a national newspaper and studios in every major Iraqi region -- promises Iraqis "comprehensive, accurate, fair, and balanced news." The Village Voice's Cynthia Cotts reports, however, that IMN already faces credibility issues. Budgeted at $100 million (part of the $87.5 billion approved for Iraq), the project's money will flow through the Defense Department's Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict division, which also handles military psy-ops.

TV docu-dramas, such as this Sunday's red, white and blue Iraq war mythology Saving Private Lynch, always play fast and loose with the facts, twisting reality into fiction for entertainment's sake. But a much hyped CBS miniseries on Ronald Reagan drew the wrath of the Right, and CBS has dumped the show. The New York Times reports that "CBS executives ...

As part of its PR strategy to 'by-pass the media filter' that it claims is distorting public perception of the Iraq war with too much negative reporting, the Bush administration has been granting interviews to smaller, more friendly media. A 'media by-pass' tactic of a different sort is being used by critics of the war who, as we've documented in our book Weapons of Mass Deception, have been locked out of mainstream media coverage.

Charlie Reina, a former producer for Fox News, has posted a letter to the Poynter Institute's online journalism forum, explaining how the network deliberately slants the news. "Editorially, the FNC newsroom is under the constant control and vigilance of management," he writes. "The pressure ranges from subtle to direct. First of all, it's a news network run by one of the most high-profile political operatives of recent times. ... The roots of FNC's day-to-day on-air bias are actual and direct.