thedrifter
12-03-05, 02:02 PM
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005 10:45 a.m. EST
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch Turns Tables on Media
NewsMax
The American media is up in arms over reports that the Pentagon hired a public relations firm to write positive news stories about the Iraq war and get them printed in the Iraqi press.
But Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad, isn't letting journalists get away with their phony display of outrage.
After the New York Times front-paged the "fake news" story Thursday under the headline: "U.S. Is Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers," Gen. Lynch defended the practice.
"We don't lie. We don't need to lie," he told reporters in Baghdad. "We do empower our operational commanders with the ability to inform the Iraqi public, but everything we do is based on fact, not based on fiction."
Sounds to us like Gen. Lynch was taking a none too subtle jab at the mainstream media's penchant for reporting - not just planted stories - but its own faked news reports.
Perhaps the next time he's questioned about "planting" stories, he'll get even more specific, by reminding the military's accusers of their own sorry history.
Beginning with:
• The New York Times - and the false reports the Old Gray Lady printed about PFC Jessica Lynch - courtesy of Jayson Blair.
• The Washington Post - which won a Pulitzer Prize for its series on Little Jimmy, the 8-year-old heroin addict - which the paper had to give back once star Post reporter Janet Cooke admitted she'd faked the whole story.
• CBS - Perhaps at the next press briefing, Gen. Lynch could inquire as to whether the Tiffany network has yet discovered just who it was who forged President Bush's National Guard records - before Dan Rather committed professional suicide by putting them in the air.
• NBC - Gen. Lynch might offer the Peacock network a hearty round of congratualtions for their relatively good conduct over the last decade. It's been more than 10 years since NBC aired video of an exploding GM truck gas tank - which was faked by their reporters.
In fact, the list of fake news stories reported by the mainstream press is so long it would make even Baghdad Bob blush.
It's good to know that some in the military - like Gen. Lynch - aren't about to let the press' hypocrisy go unnoted.
Ellie
Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch Turns Tables on Media
NewsMax
The American media is up in arms over reports that the Pentagon hired a public relations firm to write positive news stories about the Iraq war and get them printed in the Iraqi press.
But Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, spokesman for U.S. forces in Baghdad, isn't letting journalists get away with their phony display of outrage.
After the New York Times front-paged the "fake news" story Thursday under the headline: "U.S. Is Said to Pay to Plant Articles in Iraq Papers," Gen. Lynch defended the practice.
"We don't lie. We don't need to lie," he told reporters in Baghdad. "We do empower our operational commanders with the ability to inform the Iraqi public, but everything we do is based on fact, not based on fiction."
Sounds to us like Gen. Lynch was taking a none too subtle jab at the mainstream media's penchant for reporting - not just planted stories - but its own faked news reports.
Perhaps the next time he's questioned about "planting" stories, he'll get even more specific, by reminding the military's accusers of their own sorry history.
Beginning with:
• The New York Times - and the false reports the Old Gray Lady printed about PFC Jessica Lynch - courtesy of Jayson Blair.
• The Washington Post - which won a Pulitzer Prize for its series on Little Jimmy, the 8-year-old heroin addict - which the paper had to give back once star Post reporter Janet Cooke admitted she'd faked the whole story.
• CBS - Perhaps at the next press briefing, Gen. Lynch could inquire as to whether the Tiffany network has yet discovered just who it was who forged President Bush's National Guard records - before Dan Rather committed professional suicide by putting them in the air.
• NBC - Gen. Lynch might offer the Peacock network a hearty round of congratualtions for their relatively good conduct over the last decade. It's been more than 10 years since NBC aired video of an exploding GM truck gas tank - which was faked by their reporters.
In fact, the list of fake news stories reported by the mainstream press is so long it would make even Baghdad Bob blush.
It's good to know that some in the military - like Gen. Lynch - aren't about to let the press' hypocrisy go unnoted.
Ellie