Newsweek Urged To Go On Arab TV

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Knowing the psychosis that permeates the political left and the MSM, they would probably blame the Bush administration for NOT refuting the story when “asked”, thus the riots were caused by the Bush administration.

PF
 
Maybe the Pentagon can go on TV with them and apologize for not catching their mistake for TWO WEEKS. Or, better yet, maybe President Bush can go on TV and award Newsweek a medal of freedom to show that in this country, we value the freedom of the press.

Those criticizing Newsweek, think about this for a second. You’ve all been going on and on about how the “left” (anyone who disagrees with you) are apologists for thugs and terrorists. Now, becuase some folks in Afghanistan were lacked the maturity to NOT riot, you want us to shut down our free press? Doesn’t this seem, well, anti-American (hate to use the word, but you started it, after all)? Newsweek didn’t make up their story, it was sourced and checked by the Pentagon. They made a mistake, not a lie. And for this you want to shut down our free press? Get some perspective, people, Bush is a president, not a king. Frankly, if the press isn’t making life difficult for the president, whether he be Republican or Democrat, it isn’t doing it’s job.
 
Philip P:
Maybe the Pentagon can go on TV with them and apologize for not catching their mistake for TWO WEEKS. Or, better yet, maybe President Bush can go on TV and award Newsweek a medal of freedom to show that in this country, we value the freedom of the press.

Those criticizing Newsweek, think about this for a second. You’ve all been going on and on about how the “left” (anyone who disagrees with you) are apologists for thugs and terrorists. Now, becuase some folks in Afghanistan were lacked the maturity to NOT riot, you want us to shut down our free press? Doesn’t this seem, well, anti-American (hate to use the word, but you started it, after all)? Newsweek didn’t make up their story, it was sourced and checked by the Pentagon. They made a mistake, not a lie. And for this you want to shut down our free press? Get some perspective, people, Bush is a president, not a king. Frankly, if the press isn’t making life difficult for the president, whether he be Republican or Democrat, it isn’t doing it’s job.
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No, Phil, we want our press to have high reporting standards and real journalistic ethics.

Ann Coulter pointed out that when Isacof had well-documented stories about things like Clinton and Monica Lewinsky, those were held back until some other news agency broke them.

Yet THIS story, with no documentation at all, was rushed to press – and people died.

Is THAT the kind of journalism we want in the United States?
 
Why didn’t the Pentagon say anything earlier? After all, they had a chance to review the story before I went to print. Yes, I think Newsweek is guilty of bad judgment in this case. No, I will not support this suicidal campaign against the free press we seem to have launched into lately.

As you know, my political orientation favors progressive government. Yet for this model to work, it’s essential that there are checks on government to keep it accountable and transparent. A free press is essential for the survival of democracy and freedom. If those who rioted in Afghanistan can’t deal with that, well that’s tragic, but I’m not going to let that be used as an excuse to weaken my country.
 
If the Pentagon was investigating the allogation, I am not sure what they were suppose to say “don’t publish because we are investigating”? If they said that, Newsweek would have made a big deal out of the Pentagon investigating.

Chances are the Pentagon didn’t have the slightest idea what Newsweek was referring to and it was the 1st time they had even heard of the silly story.

There is no way we can blaim anyone but Newsweek for this one, sorry to those of you attempting to deflect blaim away from Newsweek.
 
I’m not deflecting blame from Newsweek. Nor should others try to deflect blame from other guilty parties. This jihad on the media is self-destructive. I think the NY Post’s posting of the Saddam photos was tasteless and poor journalism, but I’m not calling for a campaign against the Post. I don’t like Fox, but I don’t want to shut them down.

For what it’s worth, here’s Newsweek’s side of the story (we do still care about hearing both side of an issue, right?):

May 23 issue - Did a report in NEWSWEEK set off a wave of deadly anti-American riots in Afghanistan? That’s what numerous news accounts suggested last week as angry Afghans took to the streets to protest reports, linked to us, that U.S. interrogators had desecrated the Qur’an while interrogating Muslim terror suspects. We were as alarmed as anyone to hear of the violence, which left at least 15 Afghans dead and scores injured. But I think it’s important for the public to know exactly what we reported, why, and how subsequent events unfolded.

Two weeks ago, in our issue dated May 9, ****Michael Isikoff ****and John Barry reported in a brief item in our Periscope section that U.S. military investigators had found evidence that American guards at the detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, had committed infractions in trying to get terror suspects to talk, including in one case flushing a Qur’an down a toilet. Their information came from a knowledgeable U.S. government source, and before deciding whether to publish it we approached two separate Defense Department officials for comment. One declined to give us a response; the other challenged another aspect of the story but did not dispute the Qur’an charge.

Although other major news organizations had aired charges of Qur’an desecration based only on the testimony of detainees, we believed our story was newsworthy because a U.S. official said government investigators turned up this evidence. So we published the item. After several days, newspapers in Pakistan and Afghanistan began running accounts of our story. At that point, as ****Evan Thomas, Ron Moreau ****and Sami Yousafzai report this week, the riots started and spread across the country, fanned by extremists and unhappiness over the economy.

Last Friday, a top Pentagon spokesman told us that a review of the probe cited in our story showed that it was never meant to look into charges of Qur’an desecration. The spokesman also said the Pentagon had investigated other desecration charges by detainees and found them “not credible.” Our original source later said he couldn’t be certain about reading of the alleged Qur’an incident in the report we cited, and said it might have been in other investigative documents or drafts. Top administration officials have promised to continue looking into the charges, and so will we. But we regret that we got any part of our story wrong, and extend our sympathies to victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.—Mark Whitaker
 
Also, I notice the article link at the beginning of this thread has the White House urging Newsweek to go on Arab tv, and using the incident to criticize other news organizations. Excuse me, but isn’t anyone else disturbed by the White House telling the press what to do?
 
Philip P:
Also, I notice the article link at the beginning of this thread has the White House urging Newsweek to go on Arab tv, and using the incident to criticize other news organizations. Excuse me, but isn’t anyone else disturbed by the White House telling the press what to do?
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Suggesting, not telling. And administrations have been making suggestions to the press ever since the beginning of this country.
 
Philip P:
Also, I notice the article link at the beginning of this thread has the White House urging Newsweek to go on Arab tv, and using the incident to criticize other news organizations. Excuse me, but isn’t anyone else disturbed by the White House telling the press what to do?
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When a privately-owned organization creates a problem, the government isn’t even allowed to ask them to help clean up the mess?

That’ll be good news to pollutors. http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon10.gif
 
vern humphrey:
When a privately-owned organization creates a problem, the government isn’t even allowed to ask them to help clean up the mess?

That’ll be good news to pollutors. http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon10.gif
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If the government began using the EPA as a weapon in trying to kill private business ownership, it would be out of bounds. I think the twentieth century has taught us the dangers of totalitarianism. Similarly, when the government is making “suggestion” to the press, in a climate increasingly hostile to the existence of a truly independent and free press, it’s cause for concern.

The difference here is between good faith efforts to encourage better journalism and politically motivated efforts to marginalize critics. Given the intense secrecy of this administration and its open disdain of the press, I don’t trust them to act in good faith.
 
Philip P:
If the government began using the EPA as a weapon in trying to kill private business ownership, it would be out of bounds. I think the twentieth century has taught us the dangers of totalitarianism. Similarly, when the government is making “suggestion” to the press, in a climate increasingly hostile to the existence of a truly independent and free press, it’s cause for concern.
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FDR did and the sky didn’t fall. Kennedy did it and the sky didn’t fall. Johnson, Carter and Clinton did it and the sky didn’t fall.
Philip P:
The difference here is between good faith efforts to encourage better journalism and politically motivated efforts to marginalize critics. Given the intense secrecy of this administration and its open disdain of the press, I don’t trust them to act in good faith.
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The difference here is between good faith efforts to clean up this mess and the willingness of the left to use anything they can to attack the United States.
 
vern humphrey:
The difference here is between good faith efforts to clean up this mess and the willingness of the left to use anything they can to attack the United States.
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I could say the same about the Right. I have little patience for those who simply want their “team” to win, as if one side is evil and the other good. I see a lot of good and bad on both the left and right. Right now, however, the right has far more political power than the left, and so needs far more checks on it. When the democrats return to dominance, I expect the media to keep them in check, too.
 
BTW, since when is holding the administration’s actions up to critical scrutiny “attacking the United States?” Is George Bush some sort of king whom it is traitorous to question? Is a war some sort of blank check for those in power? If anything, a war is when the truly hard questions need to be asked. It’s the patriotic thing to do.
 
Philip P:
I could say the same about the Right. I have little patience for those who simply want their “team” to win, as if one side is evil and the other good. I see a lot of good and bad on both the left and right. Right now, however, the right has far more political power than the left, and so needs far more checks on it. When the democrats return to dominance, I expect the media to keep them in check, too.
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Are you seriously saying there is no moral difference between the United States and Al Qaeda, or the brutal Hussain revime in Iraq?
Philip P:
BTW, since when is holding the administration’s actions up to critical scrutiny “attacking the United States?” Is George Bush some sort of king whom it is traitorous to question? Is a war some sort of blank check for those in power? If anything, a war is when the truly hard questions need to be asked. It’s the patriotic thing to do.
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When youi imply moral equivallancy between the United States and the terrorists and dictators, you’re attacking the United States.
 
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Vern:
Are you seriously saying there is no moral difference between the United States and Al Qaeda, or the brutal Hussain revime in Iraq?
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Where did you pull THAT out of? Should I respond in kind and imply that because you’re conservative, your in league with far right fascists and xenophobic hatemongers? Come on, there’s no need to drag discourse down to such levels by such irrepsonsible rhetoric.
 
Philip P:
Where did you pull THAT out of? Should I respond in kind and imply that because you’re conservative, your in league with far right fascists and xenophobic hatemongers? Come on, there’s no need to drag discourse down to such levels by such irrepsonsible rhetoric.
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You said:
I could say the same about the Right. I have little patience for those who simply want their “team” to win, as if one side is evil and the other good. I see a lot of good and bad on both the left and right. Right now, however, the right has far more political power than the left, and so needs far more checks on it. When the democrats return to dominance, I expect the media to keep them in check, too.
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Umm, where exactly in my comments do you see moral equivalency to Hussein or Al Queda? In my belief that political power needs to be kept in check?

Against my better judgment, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just missed my point. Perhaps you misunderstood which “team” I was referring to in my post. I meant the American political left and the American political right. Where you get Saddam Hussein and Al Queda out of that, though, is beyond me.
 
Philip P:
Umm, where exactly in my comments do you see moral equivalency to Hussein or Al Queda? In my belief that political power needs to be kept in check?

Against my better judgment, I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just missed my point. Perhaps you misunderstood which “team” I was referring to in my post. I meant the American political left and the American political right. Where you get Saddam Hussein and Al Queda out of that, though, is beyond me.
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Let’s review the bidding. Newsweek publishes a false story about the Koran being treated disrespectfully. Muslims riot.

Newsweek admits the story was incorrect, and that it was instrumental in causing this rioting, in which lives were lost.

And you decry the government suggesting that Newsweek take its retraction where it would be most effective in partially repairing the damage – suggesting some sort of evil plot against the noble press.
 
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