Why Our Press Failed

The main theme that I took away from Orville Schell and his 'Failed Press' article is how tamed and cowed the media had become in the face off with the Bush Administration post 9/11 (May 2004). Schell made great points about how timid news reporters became at the time in response to White House media restrictions and threats made by government officials to reporters. 

Schell's article begins with the former president, George W. Bush, limiting the press's access to the White House by forcing them to submit questions in advance. This started with RTE reporter from Ireland, Carole Coleman, who became frustrated by Bush's rambling and non-specific answers. She tried to redirect the president and pressed for more specific answers to her questions. The article stated that 'she failed to receive the memo' telling reporters to treat the president with kid gloves. In response to this, the White House complained about Coleman as a reporter and cut off her access to a planned interview with Laura Bush because she did not play by the White House Rules. 

Schell creates a variety of depth for the reader and a broad insight into the taming of the media, which I found to be a constant theme within his article. Because of the Bush administration and the aggressive ways in which they chose to protect information and President Bush, himself, an unspoken perimeter was built around the Government, which warned reporters and news stations to respect its boundaries and limitations. Schell's quote from Press Secretary, Ari Fleischer, infamously warning reporters, "People had better watch what they say", is a perfect example of the effect it had on the media. Threats like this were found to be intimidating and convinced the media, at the time, to back off when they could have found this as a sign to press harder. The article further states that the administration adeptly used the threat of denied access as a way to intimidate reporters who showed evidence of independence. 

This is almost infuriating to read since the war going on in Iraq has been one of the most controversial issues our country has faced over the past decade, at least. It almost seems like the Bush administration was choosing to leave reporters and news stations- two of the biggest outlets to the public- in the dark. This, to me, is a sign of weakness from the Bush administration. They were trying to protect their own ideas and sources (which turned out to be false, i.e. the weapons of mass destruction theory) so that the media and voice of our country could not try to counteract or alter those ideas and plans. 

This leads into another theme of the former President Bush using faith-based truth and how that conflicted with access journalism. In my opinion, this seemed like President Bush was almost using religion and messages  from God as a scapegoat, as opposed to fact, which is what the press was supposed to be gathering. So if people disagreed with his thoughts or ideas, they wouldn't be able to blame him, since they came from a higher source. Would as many people have voted for George W. Bush if they knew that the ideas that he trusted came primarily from his "gut-instinct"? 

It is alarming that we have been governed by people who do not believe that the news media plays an important/constructive role in our system of government. I absolutely agree with Schell, that if the press does not use their "watchdog role" to its fullest potential, our country will fall into the same trap over and over again. It is part of our president's duty to keep the citizens of our country well informed with government affairs, (as well as enable and encourage the press to have access to both the President and his staff) so it is disappointing to see that George W. Bush did not fulfill this specific duty as a crucial time in our country's history. However, it is also a disappointment to look back and see that our press, as well as we, the citizens, did not fully do our part to work to find more answer and challenge the threats and warnings issued by our government at the time. However, I believe it is important for us, as a country, to recognize what went wrong in the past (why our press failed) and help to make sure that it does not happen again in the future. 

Additional Links:

Carole Coleman interview which the Bush administration banned from U.S.

Bush administration's systematic efforts to influence and distort information concerning global warning (2007 article... it was still going on!) 

Book: No Questions Asked: News Coverage Since 9/11

Questions:

1. If reporters had been more aggressive in their reporting and questioning in the first place, do you think this could have saved our country from going to war in the first place?
2. What are things that you can do as a news reporter or an agency to combat threats and fight back?
3. In the 2008 election, voters clearly voted for change; how has Obama's presidency changed with regard to the media? 
4. Why is it important that citizens of our country have a free press?