After the 1991 Gulf War, one of the Bush Administration's top war planners spoke to a group of prominent journalists and thanked them for their help. [145]
"[Television was] our chief tool in selling our policy." -- Richard Hass, National Security Council, 1991
It sure was. We were treated to live 240hour war coverage, sponsored by Exxon and General Electric and cleared by the Pentagon.
Just how many lives can these new high-tech weapons save, Colonel?
When the Pentagon is preparing to invade a foreign country, the news media faithfully repeat the official justifications for war and paint monstrous pictures of the enemy of the hour.
Reliable sources reported that ____ [Fill in the blank] eats babies for dinner.
Lawrence Grossman, who was in charge of PBS and NBC News for many years, described the role of the press this way: [146]
"The job of the President is to set the agenda and the job of the press is to follow the agenda that the leadership sets."
As a result, you get just about the same message no matter what channel you turn to.
ABC: Our game plan is right on schedule ...
CNN: Our game plan is right on schedule ...
EYE TV: Our game plan is right on schedule ...