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Media Asleep at the Switch

By Jeralyn, Section Media
Posted on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 11:23:29 AM EST
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Why is there so little media coverage of a Gallup poll in early April that shows 50% of Americans believe Bush lied to the public about WMD's in Iraq? Via Cursor:

Uncritical Mass. According to a Google News search, about the only mainstream media citations for a finding from an early April CNN/USAToday/Gallup poll that 50% of respondents now believe the Bush administration
deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq had WMD, is a column. by Paul Krugman.

OK, so Editor and Publisher.com carried it. And Rich Lewis in the Sun Sentinel. Where's everyone else?

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    Media Asleep at the Switch | 45 comments (45 topical)
    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 11:41:32 AM EST
    The simple fact is thier scared. The right has emasculated the MSM. They know what will happen, they loose access. No more interviews, no more leaks no more....

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 11:56:02 AM EST
    Move on guys. The election was held last November. Bush won. Your guy (I forget his name) lost. Stop beating a dead horse, and start trying to put together a program that might attract some voters for a change.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#3)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:08:56 PM EST
    Right. Bush won so the "accountability moment" is over and all his past lies are now magically transformed into truth. The fact that the public believes a President lied us into invading another country just doesn't matter, does it?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#4)
    by mpower1952 on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:10:44 PM EST
    Where's everyone else? Culpable.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:25:14 PM EST
    DBL is correct: I voted for Kerry (y'all know stuff I believe in so that should be a surprise) because I knew no WMD's would be found in Iraq and thought Bush lied. He is not going to be running next time. The Republican candidate will not be the one who lied; just another dupe (like Kerry) of the lie who can pass it off as Kerry did. The more you focus on the evils of the right rather than a program on the left - the more your wasting your time. Want me to vote Democratic again? Bush lying will not even be on my radar. So find a positive reason.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#6)
    by desertswine on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:29:20 PM EST
    Ya gotta wonder why it's only 50%.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#7)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:33:46 PM EST
    Bush lying will not even be on my radar.
    a deliberate, costly lie (we ain't talking bj's here), in human life and treasure. your radar is malfunctioning, not surprised, stay with the negative.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:36:32 PM EST
    They print something like that....they'll never get to interview The White House and the creatures that reside there. I'm sure it's threats from the 1600 Crew.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#9)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:43:35 PM EST
    Ya gotta wonder why it's only 50%.
    is't only 50% because the other 50% refuse to accept the reality (and consequences) of this administrations agenda (not a mandate). Like hiding the site of the returning dead, a picture being worth a thousand words!

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#10)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:45:21 PM EST
    It is weird the media are ignoring it. My best guess is that the assumption among editors is it's not surprising to anyone that half the respondents think he lied. After all, he won with just a little over half the votes, right? Not a landslide. Presumably many (if not all) of those who voted for Kerry believed the WMD story was deliberately misleading. I doubt the media are being cowed by threats of no access to the White House. For one thing, this White House is already about as inaccessible as they come (except to reporters using fake names and with dubious credentials who throw softball questions at press conferences).

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#11)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 12:59:14 PM EST
    DBL, what does the election have to do with this? Nothing. What this is saying is half the people in the United States believe our President lied to us and that those lies have cost many, many lives. I have no intention of moving on and I sincerely question those that are moving on.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#12)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 01:02:04 PM EST
    Then urge the congress to impeach him.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#13)
    by glanton on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 01:06:47 PM EST
    Six words: "Stay alert, and stay with Fox."

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#14)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 01:35:42 PM EST
    We live in the age of "get over it." "Our guy" didn't lose. We all lost...face, accountability, and standing throughout the world. But hey, get over it. After all, we are going to Mars! And when this is over, we can turn back the clock and everything will be the same, right DBL? No harm done!

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#15)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 01:53:36 PM EST
    JCH has a point, albeit one that I thought (sorry) could be better explained. Perhaps an example... I recently decided to volunteer for the campaign of a progressive Democratic gubenatorial candidate vowing "if he doesn't get elected it won't be because I didn't try". However my state has a notoriously unruly Democratic legislature entrenched in our very blue state. And they are hardly squeaky clean in a host of ways. So we have for almost two decades elected Republican govenors - a lot of moderates voting for them with the aim of balancing power on "the hill". In querying my new candidate, I asked his campaign manager "What do we say when people ask 'Why are we ready for a democratic govenor'" she answered "well look, it's better than what we got!". Story over. I am rescinding my endorsment. I am also starting to engage people who are moderate, moderately conservative and alienated by both parties as I was for a long time. If we can't answer JCH or JustPaul with positive rhetoric and real ideas, or at least truthfully define and frame issues so someone in government has credibility we're the kid in the schoolyard whining "She broke the rules!...He's not playing fair!".

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#16)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 01:56:46 PM EST
    Who cares who won the election. Nixon won in '72 in a landslide. So what? The MSM won't run this story because the MSM was echoing and amplifying those lies that they were being fed. Judith Miller of the NYT admitted as much (in a backhand way of course). So if they say that half the people know Bush is a liar, they are saying half the people know that THEY are liars, as well. Understandably, this is not something they want to report on!

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#17)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:12:26 PM EST
    We democrats have always been good on action, bad on branding. We need to have a better spin team to make the democrats represent something to the television masses. The Repugs are so much better at using the MSM to make themselves look good (thanks to Faux News). I think our biggest problem is that less educated people (50% that dont think bush lied) want action and not contemplation. Although careful negotion and consideration are the keys to running a good state, it won't impress the Nascar crowd quite as much as beating up strawmen in another country.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#18)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:13:43 PM EST
    Nonono... Bush didn't lie ! Here is the proof: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504280188apr28,1,1654458.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed&ctrack=1&cset=true Would he go and protect himself so courageously if he thought it wasn't WMD?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#19)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:22:07 PM EST
    No its more like 90 percent know he lied, are you asleep talklef?, But we all still love you. Bush needs prison with bin laden and saddam and fox, and about 300 others.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#20)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:34:26 PM EST
    Jch If one of you sons/brothers/husbands were killed in Iraq because of the Bushbag lies would you ever forget it? If some gets away with murder you should NEVER GET OVER IT! My outrage was not staged for an election!

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#21)
    by roy on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:37:25 PM EST
    I think the media isn't pushing the poll because 50% just isn't a very exciting number. It's not a concensus, it's a lukewarm shrug. Plus, they're timid about polls since being burned by the polls that said Kerry would win. I'd love to see more detailed numbers. 56% said Bush "is honest and trustworthy" and 53% said he "shares your values". So at least some of them overlap with the 50% he say he lied; what else did those people say?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#22)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:40:34 PM EST
    Did I hear correctly that A. Chalabi was appointed the *&$#ing oil minister of Iraq?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#23)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:48:52 PM EST
    et al - Part of the issue is that the public has a very loose definition of the word "lie." They accept it way the Left has been saying. Bush lied, but they know he did so by repeating what his intelligence people were telling him. BTW - I think this is a natural progression of parsing the language. Once you lose the foundation, the benchmark is gone.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#24)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:48:52 PM EST
    Mostly right, Che. He's acting oil minister--just until they get a real gummint in place, doncha see.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#25)
    by Che's Lounge on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:51:06 PM EST
    Acting. Like the act he put his "informants" through to connive us into scarificing 1600 of our best? That kind of acting? If I had a hammer...

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#26)
    by Quaker in a Basement on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:53:30 PM EST
    Parse this, PPJ: "18. Do you think the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public about whether Iraq has weapons of mass destruction, or not?" That's the exact wording of the question posed by the pollsters.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#27)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 02:58:00 PM EST
    " " If you are saying you lost someone in Iraq I am very sorry for your loss. We are never likely to get over the loss of a loved one completely. My response was political: Now what do you do about it? He cannot run for office again - and nearly everyone can run to the Kerry response: "I supported it because I was lied to". So, politically, do you look forward or back?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#28)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 03:15:24 PM EST
    It is simply not the case as JCH Fleetguy implies that "liberals have no ideas except to bash the right." A large number of liberal foreign policy analysis proposals can be found at Carnegie Endowment's website. Likewise, Century Foundation has focused on domestic issues and done a splendid job of it. The Center for American Progress has also done an excellent job in terms of a media representation of those ideas and developing others. In addition, there are numerous books by liberals that make it clear that liberalism is the heir to the traditions of the Enlightenment and propose contemporary policy in that light. One my favorites is Stephen Bronner's Reclaiming the Enlightenment. But the problem is not ideas. It's inept campaigning. Dems had on their side one of the best arguments ever for their candidates: four years of Bush misrule. And they blew it. The problem was that the Democratic leadership was not dominated by liberals or centrists but simply by incompetents. By the way, I am not surprised that JCH Fleetguy voted for Kerry. I have long said that being religious does not require you to leave your brain at the door. Kerry is a great man and he did a good job, despite virtually no genuine support from his party. Kerry, by any standard, was a middle of the road candidate so I'm not at all surprised that a diverse group of people found in him an atrractive candidate. He was.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#29)
    by scarshapedstar on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 04:52:41 PM EST
    JCH, you are the least convincing liar of all time.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#30)
    by wishful on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 04:58:07 PM EST
    Media Asleep at the Switch
    Of course they are, and I don't expect them to awaken any time soon. We are in a dangerous phase, and Goodwin be damned, dissent is being dangerously quelled. (See taxpayer-funded "town-hall" meetings by the Bush admin as an example of quelling dissent.)

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#31)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 04:58:46 PM EST
    Well that was sweet - what did I lie about?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#32)
    by Walter on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 05:16:10 PM EST
    what does the other 50% believe in.....the tooth fairy?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#33)
    by Walter on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 05:56:02 PM EST
    I heard that after Saddam got out of sanctions he was going to take his long range missles tipped with WMD and attack Iran. That would have made it possible for him to join NATO

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#34)
    by jondee on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 05:57:20 PM EST
    PPJ - The buck stops there. You dont invade a country and kill and maim that many unless youre sure. And Bush didnt even fire anyone - one wonders why. Maybe because the buck-holders might pass it back.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#35)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 06:10:27 PM EST
    jondee - Whether you like it, or whether I like it, in Bush's 2003 SOTU speech, he explained his thinking and what he was going to do. That was a pre-emptive strike. There is really no need to keep on complaining about it unless your intenton is just to bash Bush. So, bash away. The american people understood in November, and re-elected him. Game, Set, Match.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#36)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 07:12:35 PM EST
    Posted by DBL"Move on guys. The election was held last November." Yet another stolen election. Bush did NOT win Ohio, which means he again lost both the popular and electoral college numbers. As for Kerry, he won the election. But we are in the middle of a coup, stolen elections for FIVE YEARS, no paper-trail in 28 states, and no recount rights even in a state like Ohio, where it was paid for on time, ordered by the Court, but blocked by Bush's campaign chief/Ohio's SecState, in exchange for Rove support in his governor's bid. Kerry did not support the Iraq invasion. He OUTED the USPNAC airbases scheme in the first debate (you know, the one in which he ripped Bush's delusions of thinking into little tiny pieces), to 60 million Americans. The Left is still trying to sell their 'there is no difference' pitch, but Nader conclusively atomized that argument, and most of America will NEVER vote Republican in a fair election, after what Bush has done to the country, and after the Rs have covered his crimes to their best ability, only to FAIL. 50% know the facts, and the other 50% are trying to avoid knowing the facts. But the facts are the facts, and NO ONE can defend them with a straight face, unless it's one of those trained icehouse looks that C. Rice and D. Cheney have learned so well.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#37)
    by Richard Aubrey on Thu Apr 28, 2005 at 08:26:16 PM EST
    I have to give you guys credit. Mostly, the lefties shoot themselves footwise. This time, you managed to fool half the American people, presuming the poll says what you claim it does. With the ABC filibuster question in mind, I'll withhold judgment on that. Anyway, we know that Clinton and Kerry lied in 1998 when they said the same thing on the way to making regime change in Iraq official US policy. Along with many prominent dems, besides. And we know that Bush was told by all the best intel we and other nations had that WMD existed. Thus, he did not lie. There is a difference. You know the difference, not that it makes any difference to you. Rueful admiration. Your energy, persistence, and complete lack of integrity did actually have an effect.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#39)
    by Walter on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 02:00:08 AM EST
    When you say "that Bush was told by all the best intel we and other nations had that WMD existed" do you mean the intel supplied by Iranian spy and new Iraq oil minister Ahmed Chalabi? With Ahmed Chalabi being named Iraq's new oil minister, I know that those 1600 Americans didn't die in vain.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#40)
    by Walter on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 02:18:21 AM EST
    Richard, let me get this straight...Iranian spy Ahmed Chalabi sells the neo-cons on the idea that Iraq has WMD and must be invaded. Iranian spy Chalabi accomplises two things by this, one Saddam is gone and will no longer will be able to point his long range missles tipped with WMD at Iran. Second Iranian spy Chalabi gets to control the earth's second largest proven reserve of oil by being named oil minister. Personally I think that Iranian spy Ahmed Chalabi would have been willing to sacrifice a lot more Americans than the 1600 who have died. And people worry about the U.S. military under U.N. command.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#41)
    by scarshapedstar on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 02:50:48 AM EST
    JCH, I find it hard to believe that anyone intelligent enough to vote for Kerry would vote Republican in the next election, as if only Bush personally came up with the idea of lying to us about Iraq. You know who did? PNAC. You know who's a signatory of PNAC's manifesto? Jeb. You know who's the most likely Republican candidate...?

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#42)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 05:55:32 AM EST
    Money, power, control. The mainstream media is generally reluctant to buck the powers that be and the powers that be in this particular time are some of the most reactionary and punishing in memory. The press must be controlled and suppressed. It's the first and one of the most important steps in establishing a totalitarian state. My take? It's been years since the msm covered the events of the day in any reasonable way. They are just slightly worse than usual in the past decade. You want fair and balanced? You will have to go international and include the beeb among others.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#43)
    by kdog on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 06:23:42 AM EST
    The media won't mention it because then the media is exposed for not fact checking the govt.'s claims. The media would lose any shred of credibility it has left. The admin. lied/mislead/deceived (pick your own verbiage), the media failed in their responsibility to check the facts, instead taking on the role of cheerleader. There is very little investigative reporting these days, the MSM merely reads govt. press releases, and cuts to the talking heads screaming at each other.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#44)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 08:09:13 AM EST
    Scar, I am a republican because I am a: 1) Fiscal conservative: Democrats may get me again on this because the Republicans have decided huge deficits are ok - a Clinton/Kerry democrat who makes it clear they will re-balance the budget will get a look. Anybody who promises new programs and says taxes will go down or stay the same....well, I know how to do math. I do not really care whether deficit is because they didnt collect enough or spent too much 2) Pro-life: Abortion is an issue to me. Period. As it stands this is a large albatross around any Democrats neck. I would give grace on this issue to any Democrat who did not oppose ban on intact D&X's (Reid, Bayh are a couple) and made it clear they think education that abortion is not birth control is necessary. 3) War: I was pro-Afganistan; anti-Iraq; almost certainly anti-Iran, Korea, etc. I am for staying the course in Iraq though - we destabilized their government and we have to committ to their stability for as long as it takes. I think its less than 50-50 that a Democrat will take this stand convincingly. If Jeb Bush is the candidate - the Democrats could run Daffy Duck and I might vote for him; but I would rather talk about issues than candidates.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#45)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 08:12:20 AM EST
    Scar, Besides, the main argument against Kerry was his stand against vietman. I worked with John when he was in Vietnam Vets Against the War - very nice guy.

    Re: Media Asleep at the Switch (none / 0) (#46)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Fri Apr 29, 2005 at 11:35:49 AM EST
    kdog, As a member of said MSM, I would dispute that all MSM does is read government press releases. Seems to me mainstream papers like the Washington Post and NY Times were all over the story that there were no WMDs found. If you look at editorial pages, many have been critical - repeatedly - of the arguments (or non arguments) put forth by the administration. That said, the question here is why not more reporting of the Gallup Poll stat? In earlier post, I tossed out a couple of reasons why major news outlets might not have paid that much attention. Not to excuse the lack of coverage, simply to give an idea of how news editors might be thinking about how to play that story (or whether to run it at all). One question I would have is: Are there earlier polls that show a similar percentage of respondents (half) thought the administration deliberately misled the public? If so, and the percentage hasn't changed much, that might explain why it hasn't gotten more play.

    Media Asleep at the Switch | 45 comments (45 topical)