By relying too heavily on government sources from one party, most pre-Iraq war coverage misstated the threat and drastically underplayed opposition to the war among experts, political elites, and the general public.

This is not the last time this media blight will rear its ugly head, and as long as it does, the American public will continue to be led by the nose to support disastrous wars, policies and politicians.

Among the documents the New York Times pried loose from the Pentagon for their story on TV military analysts are the records from a December 12, 2006 meeting some of the analysts had with Donald Rumsfeld.

Maybe we're not surprised anymore when hidden motives paraded before us are ignored by the corporate media. Have we also moved beyond public radio being held to a higher standard?

Scientists ordered to lie by Bush administration; Pentagon suspends its illegal retired military analyst program; Rumsfeld's propaganda; Federal Elections Commission paralyzed.

2008-05-01-sekoff_abrams_wirght_media.jpg Read Post

The Bush administration's propaganda wouldn't have spread far if it weren't for its cozy relationship with media outlets like Fox, ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN.

The near-complete blackout on the Pentagon propaganda story, self-imposed by the culpable news organizations, is a despicable abdication of their role as a constitutionally protected check on our government. Read More Probing a Political Paradox: Why the Discredited Right Still Sets the Agenda and Dominates the Debate How is it that the 28 percent of the population that continues to support George W. Bush no matter how many bodies pile up in Iraq, how many jobs disappear overseas, or how high gas prices get, continues to dominate our politics? Read More Watch Arianna On: Good Morning America, 20/20, Charlie Rose, Real Time, The Situation Room, AC 360, CNN's Election Center, and MobLogic TV

Fox is still airing -- without disclosure -- two of the exposed pundits, Robert H. Scales and Thomas McInerney. See them for yourself.

AFP reports: The Pentagon has suspended a public affairs program that has come under fire for using retired military "media analysts" as surrogates t...

The major TV networks were not hoodwinked by a Pentagon propaganda scheme. No government agency forced MSNBC to repeatedly feature the hawkish generals unopposed.

While most TV news organizations have refused to report or even comment on the bombshell Times article, PBS just aired an important segment on the controversy.

The networks in question have all but refused to make any noise about this, so we did.

In the ensuing days of the revelations of pro-war propaganda on our major TV news outlets, these same outlets are either dismissing the damning revelations or pretending they never happened.

News media have a responsibility to warn their audience when a commentator has an economic interest in the issue they discuss.

The mainstream media seems intent on confirming that it has so internalized the Right's framing and messages they have now become part of its DNA. The first of the latest round of exhibits proving this was offered into evidence during last week's ABC debate. This was followed by the New York Times' epic revelation of the unseemly complicity between the Pentagon and the media in delivering the Bush administration's talking points on Iraq via "a kind of Trojan media horse" -- Pentagon-approved, prepped, and financially-enriched "military analysts" dutifully parroting the Bush party line, with nary a raised eyebrow from the TV stations and newspapers offering these highly-decorated sock puppets their prestigious platforms. And it's not just the media. Witness Hillary Clinton repeating the Rove-promoted lie that MoveOn was against intervention in Afghanistan after 9/11.