Were The New York Times And Washington Post Asleep In The Run-Up To War?
By Mark Baker America’s two most influential newspapers let the country down in the run-up to the Iraq war by failing to challenge claims by the administration of President George W. Bush. That’s the contention of a new article in “The New York Review of Books.” Author Michael Massing says “The New York Times” and “The Washington Post” were too timid to tackle a popular president and were more interested in scooping each other than in uncovering the truth about Iraq. RFE/RL reports that while Massing’s article focuses on journalism in the United States, his conclusions hold lessons for media organizations anywhere. Prague, 8 March 2004 (RFE/RL) — A recent article in an influential U.S. journal is highly critical of the country’s two leading newspapers for failing to adequately educate the public in the run-up to last year’s war in Iraq. The article, which appeared in last week’s “New York Review of Books,” faults “The Washington Post” and “The New York Times” for not sufficiently chal
