Coverage of Buying The War

Bill Moyers' new PBS documentary "Buying The War" has received mixed reviews or none at all depending largely on ones opinion of the subject matter; the collapse and failure of the Washington press corps in the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq.

The Washington Post carried a preview by its television columnist, Tom Shales. Mr. Shales titled his piece "A Media Role in Selling the War? No Question" and sums up the program as such:

Even if this Moyers report tells you some things you already knew, it puts the whole story of the media's role in the war into one convenient package -- a story of historical value that is also frighteningly rife with portents for the future and for what will pass as journalism in months and years to come.

Mr. Shales also points out the litany of reporters and supposed experts who refused to comment or appear on the documentary; the list includes Judith Miller, Charles Krauthammer, and Bill Kristol among others,and provides a general overview of the program.

The L.A. Times also assigned coverage to their TV reviewer, Paul Brownfield. The LAT review spends more time mentioning Mr. Moyers return to PBS than covering the actual documentary. Mr. Brownfield also mentions media figures who refused to appear on the program; naming Thomas Friedman, William Safire, and Roger Ailes. Mr. Brownfield sums up his review by mentioning the lack of a conservative perspective, although in a not altogether negative way:

There is no one representing the conservative argument here, nor the deeper ideological reasons for believing in the Iraq invasion. But that's partly Moyers' position: In the run-up to war, point-counterpoint emerged as a devastating sham.

As for The N.Y. Times; it failed to cover "Buying The War" at all, mustering only a paltry one and a half lines in the "Whats on Tonight" section. Is 'the paper of record' so ashamed of its role in the gross negligence and misinformation portrayed as journalism prior to the invasion of Iraq that it will go out of its way to avoid any discussion of the pre-war reporting?

Online Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com as an in depth post on "Buying The War" as well as the coverage it is receiving positive and negative. Some of that negative coverage has come from CBS reporter Mark Knoller who has blasted Bill Moyers, refering to the documentary as "unfounded" and "misrepresentative." (More to come On Mr. Knoller soon)

Mr. Moyers has put together a clear, well researched, and direct piece of journalism. Regardless of your view point it should be watched.