Reason and Radical

Real Journalists

Real journalists are hard to find these days. But here's a pair whose names should become synonmous with Woodward and Bernstein: Strobel and Landay.

Knight Ridder Washington reporters Warren Strobel and Jonathan Landay were just about the only journalists asking the right questions (and getting answers) about WMDs in the weeks leading up to the Iraq war. As American Journalism Review notes, "For about a year-and-a-half, the pair had filed compelling stories on the issue and, on many occasions, it seemed like they were banging the drum alone."

And how did the Bush administration react to this demonstration of freedom of the press? Again, from the AJR article: "Around that time, the White House turned up the pressure, Strobel says, and 'tried to freeze us out of briefings.' Landay adds: 'I think this administration may have a fairly punitive policy when it comes to journalists who get in their face. And if you talk to some White House reporters, there is a fear of losing access.'"

Read the article -- this points to one of the biggest problems we face in America today -- the failure of the media to do its job.

posted by Leimodnu @ 9:41 AM