September 11 Digital Archive

The media and the U.S. government

Title

The media and the U.S. government

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Original Name


The relationship between the media and the U.S. government appears closer than ever. The media has

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-12-11

VTMBH Article: Edition

46

VTMBH Article: Article Order

3

VTMBH Article: Title

The media and the U.S. government

VTMBH Article: Author

Ahsan Jehangir

VTMBH Article: Publication

News Pakistan

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Urdu

VTMBH Article: Translator

Rehan Ansari

VTMBH Article: Section

edits

VTMBH Article: Blurb


The relationship between the media and the U.S. government appears closer than ever. The media has become a place where the administration tests public reaction to a future policy, or where administration policies are "explained." And ties between the administration and the media are not simply closeboth act toward a common goal.

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

The relationship between media executives and the U.S. government has never appeared closer. More and more we are seeing the media propagating administration policies. It is so much the case that the media functions as either a "testing ground" for policymakingin other words, the media is where the administration tests public reaction to a future policyor a space where administration policies are "explained."

Roger Ailes, chairman and CEO of Fox News, went even further in cozying up to the administration by advising President Bush on the importance of harmonizing with public opinion. After September 11th, he wrote a letter to President Bush arguing that the president must wed public opinion to his policies. This incident has been written about in a book about post-September 11th administration policies called Bush at War.

Ties between the administration and the media are not simply closethey act toward a common goal. When Clinton was president, he counted among his closest friends Richard Kaplan, president of CNN/USA. Kaplan used to spend a day in the White House, every week, with Clinton. Is it too much to say that Clinton regularly briefed a senior executive of a major news outlet?

An example of the common goals between the media and the administration is the build up and demonizing of Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan. It is common knowledge that Saddam has committed terrible wrongs against the Iraqi people and neighboring countries. But the media does not point out that most of these crimes were committed while Saddam was an ally of the United States until 1988.

Today Saddam is presented by the media as a villain who possesses chemical and biological weapons. This is because today it suits the administration to make war on him.

In the case of Pervez Musharraf it is the opposite. Prior to September 11th, both the Clinton and Bush administrations were unhappy with the coup in Pakistan. In his trip to South Asia in March 2001, Clinton spent five days in India and five hours in Islamabad, during which he refused to have a photograph taken of his handshake with Musharraf. In those days, Musharraf was presented in the media as a military dictator presiding over a failed state.

Post-September 11th, with Musharraf having sided with the United States, the man is now an ally of this country, with the New York Times repeatedly referring to him as "a benign dictator."

Musharraf, who has introduced a democracy in Pakistan which is no threat to his presidency, and which has restored the same corrupt politicians from previous regimes, is presented by all media outlets as a "progressive" and a "moderate" Muslim.

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-12-11

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

78

Citation

“The media and the U.S. government,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 8, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1369.