Retired General Ricardo Sanchez got lots of ink for his calling Iraq “a nightmare with no end in sight” in his talk Friday to the Military Reporters and Editors Association. It was news, but so was his criticism of reporters and editors, which got no ink, as WSJ’s John Fund says in the (subscription-only) Political Diary:
In his talk, General Sanchez accused reporters of “unscrupulous reporting, solely focused on supporting an agenda and preconceived notions of the U.S. military.” He added that such press bias sometimes “puts U.S. service members in deadly situations.”
“What is clear to me is that you are perpetuating the corrosive partisan politics that is destroying our country and killing our service members who are at war. My assessment is that your profession, to some extent, has strayed from these ethical standards and allowed external agendas to manipulate what the American public sees on TV, reads in newspapers and what they see on the Web,” Mr. Sanchez said. “For some of you, just like some of our politicians, the truth is of little to no value if it does not fit your own preconceived notions, biases and agendas.”
The audience of military reporters appeared stunned as General Sanchez calmly laid out his indictment. He concluded: “We must ask ourselves — who is responsible for maintaining the ethical standards of the profession in order to ensure that our democracy does not continue to be threatened by this dangerous shift away from your sacred duty of public enlightenment?” After an uncomfortable silence, punctuated by smatters of applause, James Crawley, president of the Military Reporters and Editors Association, thanked the general for his “unvarnished” look at the media. But to the extent the general has a point, how can we expect change unless his remarks are heard in the media forest?
Yes.
Blithe Spirit 