Vodkapundit - London Blogging

London Blogging

Posted by Stephen Green · 18 May 2005

Had a perfect little afternoon.

Lunch with Megan McArdle, followed by some shopping on Jermyn Street. (If you ever find yourself there and in need of a suit, stop in at Roderick Charles. I just bought a charcoal herringbone double-breasted number there, and it's undoubtedly the finest thing I've ever owned. And for a very reasonable price. Anyway.)

Back in the hotel for a bit, because Melissa needed a nap. My perfect little afternoon was nearly spoiled when I read this:

...it was the press's turn to fight back as Bush spokesman Scott McClellan opened his briefing to questions.
[Joined in progess]

Q With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it's appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?

MR. McCLELLAN: I'm not telling them. I'm saying that we would encourage them to help --

Q You're pressuring them.

MR. McCLELLAN: No, I'm saying that we would encourage them --

Q It's not pressure?

MR. McCLELLAN: Look, this report caused serious damage to the image of the United States abroad. And Newsweek has said that they got it wrong. I think Newsweek recognizes the responsibility they have. We appreciate the step that they took by retracting the story. Now we would encourage them to move forward and do all that they can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report. And that's all I'm saying. But, no, you're absolutely right, it's not my position to get into telling people what they can and cannot report....

Q Are you asking them to write a story about how great the American military is; is that what you're saying here?

MR. McCLELLAN: Elisabeth, let me finish my sentence. Our military --

Q You've already said what you're -- I know what -- how it ends.

Yeah, well Newsweek knew how the Flushed Koran story ended, too, didn't they?

This stuff just makes me mad, because the media is acting like an spoiled child. Michael Isikoff and Newsweek screwed up, and people died.

Now, McClellan makes the perfectly reasonable suggestion that Newsweek maybe, possibly take a little more responsiblity than they did on Monday. I'm sorry, but the Modified Limited Hangout wasn't enough for Nixon in '73, and it's not good enough for Newsweek in '05.

Instead... instead we get more of these goddamned Gotcha Journalism games.

Newsweek knows what it ought to do -- exactly what McClellan suggested. But because a government official suggested it, Newsweek (and the entire press in general, it seems) feels free to keep doing the wrong thing.

Why? Because the government said to.

That's the attitude of a spoiled child, who won't do something he or she knows she should (or might even really want to) simply because Mommy or Daddy told them to do it.

Most blogs are more grown up than that -- and most blogs are written by teenagers.

So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get back to my vacation now and do some grown-up things.

UPDATE: More here from James Dunnigan. Money line: "Newsweek, like most American media, is known to have higher standards than al Qaeda propagandists. But not that high."

Comments

Please consider collecting your impressions/recommendations in a large post. I am visiting London for the first time this July and would appreciate the insights.

Best wishes, Pigilito

Posted by: Pigilito at May 18, 2005 12:10 PM

Of course, I assume that's Elisabeth Bumiller from the NY Times. Hey, where are all the people who complained about Jeff Gannon's biased questions?

Posted by: Crank at May 18, 2005 12:44 PM

Crank:

Biased questions against the (sitting, Republican, theocratic) government are always acceptable.

It's questions softballing the (sitting, Republican, theocratic, neo-fascist) government that are unacceptable.

Get with the program!

Posted by: Lurking Observer at May 18, 2005 01:02 PM

Instead... instead we get more of these goddamned Gotcha Journalism games.

It's enough to drive ya to drink.

Martini with vodka whisper friggin' vermouth to the "rocks" and for the love of Mike don't do that British Beefeater's crapola.

Posted by: madawaskan at May 18, 2005 02:52 PM

Yep, Newsweek screwed up. But leaving the flaming bag 'o responsibility solely at their doorstep is a little disengenuous...

According to the report I heard on the radio yesterday (sorry, no link yet), Newsweek pitched the entire story to DoD officials before printing it, and nobody blinked about the Koran stuff. Also, just last week (before Newsweek's retraction), Gen Meyers of the JCS was stating quite firmly that the riots in question had nothing to do with the Koran report. But now all of a sudden the deaths are Newsweek's fault?

Scotty's right when he says that people need to recognize their responsibilities and act accordingly, but Newsweek's hardly the only outfit that needs to live up to a higher standard...

Posted by: legion at May 18, 2005 03:26 PM

Ah, so the military has the following choices:

1. Deny it outright, w/o an investigation.
2. Tell Newsweek not to publish the story.

And if the Pentagon did tell them not to publish the story, does that make the story more or less credible? Be honest now.

Of course, this is like the claim that the Killian memoes must be real. After all, the White House didn't deny them, right?

And the Myers and Eikenberry comments are hardly contradictory of the situation. Were there protests, riots, etc., before the story broke? Sure. Did they get worse after the story broke in Newsweek (remembering that what made the Newsweek story different was the claim that Pentagon investigators had confirmed the charges)? You tell me.

Posted by: Lurking Observer at May 18, 2005 04:25 PM

We agree Newsweek screwed this up.
But the White House has no place suggesting how this can be fixed. That's not a can they should try opening. The fact is this: by siding with those who are ticked at the US, the White House is now on their side. And it's the White House that started this mess toi begin with!
It gets curiouser and curiouser.
I'm going back to my cave and watch HBO.

Posted by: Osamabinladen at May 19, 2005 10:46 AM

Biased questions against the (sitting, Republican, theocratic) government are always acceptable.

When the sitting Republican theocratic government is condoning torture in the prisons it's running, where a couple dozen prisoners have been tortured to death, no trial of course--let God sort them out, right?--then I think it's perfectly honorable for journalists--even corrupt, establishment journalists like the Times' Bumiller, if that really was her--to ask probing questions. Her sarcasm about writing stories about how great the military was, well, apparently she should stick to journalism and leave that sorta thing to Bill Maher.

Posted by: Lurking Republican Shill at May 19, 2005 06:15 PM

Were there protests, riots, etc., before the story broke? Sure. Did they get worse after the story broke in Newsweek (remembering that what made the Newsweek story different was the claim that Pentagon investigators had confirmed the charges)? You tell me.

Were there protests, riots, etc., before the U.S. invaded Iraq? Sure. Did they get worse after prison torture and 100,000 people dead? You tell me.

Posted by: Lurking Republican Shill at May 19, 2005 07:14 PM

One must ask: what was lunch with Jane Galt like?

Posted by: Klug at May 20, 2005 04:12 PM

Do you think the White House will equally get on Rupert Murdoch's paper for publishing pics of Saddam in his undies?

Posted by: Thomas at May 21, 2005 05:38 PM

They may openly criticize it, but I don't think they're overly concerned. It is just another step towards discrediting the region's strongmen. They want Assad to look at the picture and think that he better start going to the gym, just in case.

Posted by: Cutler at May 22, 2005 02:45 PM

It was a pleasure to meet you at Perry's bash, Stephen. Hope you both enjoyed the rest of your trip.

I bought a Roderick Charles suit about 4 years ago and it was superb.

Posted by: Johnathan Pearce at May 23, 2005 05:43 AM