Media Culpas: Prewar Reporting Mistakes at the New York Times and Washington Post

Author(s):  
Matt Carlson

This chapter looks at how two newspapers used unnamed sources in reports leading up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003. When Iraq's weapons of mass destruction failed to materialize, critics on the left and from within journalism chastised the New York Times and Washington Post for overly credulous, unnamed source-laden investigative reporting appearing on their front pages in the buildup to the war. The newspapers responded by revisiting their unnamed sourcing practices, but not until more than a year after the invasion. These self-assessments generated attention around two problems negatively impacting prewar coverage: the calculated press management strategies of the Bush administration, and the willingness of the competing newspapers to reproduce official statements anonymously. The complex problems marking the journalist-unnamed source exchange come to light through these efforts to attach blame both to the sources and the journalists.

1998 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 40-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robyn S. Goodman

This study of coverage by the New York Times and Washington Post during the Bush administration shows Congress got more coverage than the president on the China trade issue.


2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andre Billeaudeaux ◽  
David Domke ◽  
John S. Hutcheson ◽  
Philip Garland

This study examines the interplay among President Bush, key members of the administration and military and the news media between Sept. 11 and Oct. 7, 2002, when the U.S. military campaign began in Afghanistan. The research suggests that the administration messages influenced the editorials in The New York Times and The Washington Post.


Author(s):  
Adeed Dawisha

This chapter discusses political developments in Iraq following the US and UK's military campaign in 2003. The publicly stated reason for the invasion of Iraq was Saddam's possession of weapons of mass destruction and his links with international Islamist terrorists. However, is probably more likely that from the very beginning the Bush Administration, or more precisely influential elements within it, made the removal of Saddam Husayn a central plank of the administration's policy. Whatever the reasons for the invasion, the United States found itself on April 9, 2003 the hegemonic power in Iraq, faced with the responsibilities of governance. And indeed until June 28, 2004, when sovereignty was transferred to the Iraqis, the United States (with some input by the British) ruled Iraq directly through a mostly American administration in Baghdad called the Coalition Provisional Authority.


2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDERS STRINDBERG

Syria's sharp criticism of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003 opened a particularly tense phase in Syrian-American relations, culminating in the May 2004 imposition of U.S. economic sanctions under the Syria Accountability Act. While accusing Damascus of being on the ““wrong side”” in the wars against terror and Iraq, Washington has raised a number of other issues, including Syria's military presence in Lebanon, its support for Hizballah and various Palestinian factions, its alleged ““interference”” in Iraq, and its possible possession of weapons of mass destruction. This report, based on numerous interviews with government officials, analysts, opposition figures, and ordinary citizens, examines Syria's reactions to these allegations, gradual changes in Syrian political culture, and various domestic developments.


Recent Literature on Sanctions - Iraq Under Siege: The Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War, Anthony Arnove, ed. (Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2000), 216 pp., $40 cloth, $16 paper. - “The Effect of Iraqi Sanctions: Statistical Pitfalls and Responsibility,” Amatzia Baram, Middle East Journal 54 (Spring2000), pp. 194–223. - United Nations Sanctions Management: A Case Study of the Iraq Sanctions Committee, 1990–1994, Paul Conlon (Ardsley, N.Y.: Transnational Publishers, 2000), 350 pp., $115 cloth. - Iraq and the War of Sanctions: Conventional Threats and Weapons of Mass Destruction, Anthony H. Cordesman (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1999), 712 pp., $75 cloth. - The Sanctions Decade: Assessing UN Strategies in the 1990s, David Cortright and George A. Lopez, eds. (Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2000), 274 pp., $17.95 paper. - The Sanctions Paradox: Economic Statecraft and International Relations, Daniel W. Drezner (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 362 pp., $59.95 cloth, $24.95 paper. - Sanctioning Saddam: The Politics of Intervention in Iraq, Sarah Graham-Brown (London: I. B. Tauris, 1999), 400 pp., $35 cloth. - Economic Sanctions and American Diplomacy, Richard N. Haass, ed. (New York: Council on Foreign Relations Books, 1998), 220 pp., $17.95 paper. - Honey and Vinegar: Incentives, Sanctions, and Foreign Policy, Richard N. Haass and Meghan L. O'Sullivan, eds. (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2000), 168 pp., $39.95 cloth, $16.95 paper.

2001 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 187-192

2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 4 (Issue 2) ◽  
pp. 454-477
Author(s):  
Ashraf Iqbal ◽  
Dr. Tanveer Hussain ◽  
Javed

The main purpose of the present research is to investigate Pak-Afghan relations in the editorials of US newspapers, The Washington Post & The New York Times and Pakistani newspapers Dawn & The News related to the following issues during the period 1997-2005; A) US as a factor in Pak-Afghan relation, B) Coverage of Islam/Muslims regarding war on terrorism, C) Pakistan’s stance on Pak-Afghan bilateral relations, and D) US’s stance on Pak-Afghan bilateral relations. The time period to be examined in this proposed study spans over eight years regarding the editorial coverage of Pak-Afghan relations in the US and Pakistani leading English Press. Triangulation method based on qualitative and quantitative method was used to conduct the present research. The results show that the editorial contents of USA and Pakistani newspapers were not different regarding Pak-Afghan relations before and after 9/11. The incident of 9/11 changed the American foreign policy towards developing and least developing nations especially Muslims states like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran etc. Pakistani press highlighted the issues regarding the Pak-Afghan relations before and after 9/11 as a favorable and conducive, related to Muslim/Islam regarding war on terrorism. The study suggested that instead of the focus on military resolution of the different problems, rather social bilateral negations should be prioritized which would be long lasting and full of mutual respects and honor.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
O. Ike Okoro ◽  
Nduka Lucas Oluka

The hazard of biological, chemical and nuclear materials, regarded as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), intercalating the arsenal of terrorists is the biggest crime and challenge against humanity. Every such crime and challenge ought to be named appropriately; and state actors experiencing such owe it to their citizens to act speedily and with certainty against terrorists. Even with the on-going war on terrorism, there has been a surge in terrorist activities in some parts of the world. Terrorists in our contemporary age have also embraced startling trends in their operational mode since the 11 September 2001 fanatic attacks in New York and Washington D. C. The devastating effect of these twin attacks has raised global concern about the potential use of WMD by Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State of Iran and Syria (ISIS), and their affiliate groups. One major issue of great concern in recent times, apart from the propensity of the terrorist organizations to acquire WMD, is the involvement of state actors that secretly acquire or claim to have acquired them for the purposes of electricity generation. Notably, too, is the trend in modern scientific and technological improvement which has increased the nature of, and access to, WMD. This research, therefore, attempts to access the implication and impact of WMD as terrorists put them to use. The study also examines the concept of terrorism and WMD. Also examined is the general implication of the use of WMD and the challenges this might pose to the international community, considering the current trends in their acquisition by some states and non-state actors. The investigation suggests appropriate counter-measures to thwart terrorists’ effort to acquire WMD. The study also adopted the qualitative approach of research to analyse the sophistication adopted by new terrorist groups particularly by the ISIS terrorist network; the al-Qaeda group and other splinter groups. Thus, historical research is most appropriate for this study, and secondary source of data was adopted as its methodology.


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