(Katie) Couric Critiques Iraq War Run-Up Coverage

[sabra]

Source: CBS News

CBS News Anchor Calls White House Press Corps Performance "Embarrassing"

<snip>

"I think it's a very legitimate allegation," said CBS News' Katie Couric. "I think it's one of the most embarrassing chapters in American journalism.

"And I think there was a sense of pressure from corporations who own where we work and from the government itself to really squash any kind of dissent or any kind of questioning of it," Couric added. "I think it was extremely subtle but very, very effective."

ABC News' Charles Gibson disagreed with Couric.

"I think that the media did a pretty good job of focusing and asking the questions," he said. "We were not given access to get into the country … to go along with the inspectors. But the questions were asked.

"It was just a drum beat from the government, and I think it's convenient now to blame the media, but I don't," he added.

...

NBC News' Brian Williams said it was the mood of the country after 9/11 that influenced the coverage.

"I think people have to remember the post-9/11 era and how that felt and what the president felt he was empowered to do, and that Colin Powell speech at the U.N.," he said.

Couric, however, countered Williams' assessment.

"Our responsibility is to sometimes go against the mood of the country," she said, "and ask the hard questions."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/28/earlyshow/main4130854.shtml

[tishaLA]

1. Video here

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24852326#24854188

[Teaser]

2. damn straight kate

"Our responsibility is to sometimes go against the mood of the country," she said, "and ask the hard questions."

[LynnTheDem]

9. Funny though how IN FACT the MAJORITY of Americans OPPOSED

bush's criminal plans to invade Iraq.

IN FACT the "mood of the country" was AGAINST bush's illegal invasion.

And that is a provable, verifiable, FACT.

FACTS:

December 17, 2002

Poll: Bush hasn't made case for Iraq war

More than two-thirds of Americans believe the Bush administration has failed to make its case that a war against Iraq is justified...
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2002-12-17-iraq-poll_x.htm



January 13, 2003

Poll: Majority of Americans oppose unilateral action against Iraq

A robust majority of Americans - 83 percent - would support going to war if the United Nations backed the action and it was carried out by a multinational coalition. But without U.N. approval and allies, only about a third of the public would support a war with Iraq.
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/001415.html



US Public Want to Give UN Inspectors More Time

Seven in 10 Americans would give U.N. weapons inspectors months more to pursue their arms search in Iraq, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that found growing doubts about an attack on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Fifty-eight percent said they would like to see more evidence, and 71 percent said the United States should make public its own evidence if the U.N. inspectors can't find hard evidence of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.

In one clear sign of public caution on Iraq, 43 percent of respondents said the U.N. inspectors should have as much time as they like to scour Iraq. A quarter said the inspectors should have "a few months" or more. Another quarter supported a deadline of a few weeks or less for the inspections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A23564-2003Jan21

[BlooInBloo]

3. So we can expect her resignation when, exactly?

[Teaser]

5. hell, she'll be fired before long

she fails at being a newshead.

[closeupready]

4. OMG - Katie Couric has always been one of the biggest Bushbots, please.

Revise history much, Katie? :eyes: Though to be fair, I totally agree with her assessment now.

[Teaser]

6. maybe she's honestly sorry

stop laughing.

[closeupready]

13. Maybe, but over 4,000 American soldiers are dead now.

and countless Iraqi citizens. That's what I'm sorry about, not some overpaid celebrity infotainer. If she's remorseful, I guess we'll have to see where she goes from here. This is a good start.

[wtmusic]

24. She's not sorry enough. nt

[PassingFair]

30. Bushbots say she is on OUR team.

She must be pretty even-handed if
EVERYONE hates her.

Much like Nancy Pelosi.

[fshrink]

36. I don't give a fuck. I take honesty where it is.

That's more than ABC, CBS, CNN and, yes, the NYT, will probably ever acknowledge.

[closeupready]

39. So if Novak today said, "I was wrong - I'm sorry", all would be forgiven? I don't think so.

:eyes:

[fshrink]

45. Accountability begins with acknowledgment.

Better than to continue lying. Or act as if nothing happened.

[closeupready]

46. I guess we agree? Notice I said, "This is a good start."

n/t

[LynnTheDem]

7. Gibson, still lying? Or just still deeply stupid?

"I think that the media did a pretty good job of focusing and asking the questions," he said. "We were not given access to get into the country … to go along with the inspectors. But the questions were asked.

Ummm...wrong. And very wrong. And wrong yet again.

[underpants]

11. Gibson just sucks

in every way

[eagertolearn]

34. I agree. I totally lost any respect I had for him after the ABC debate!

[truebrit71]

15. Just deeply, DEEPLY stupid...as you can tell from his role as moderator in the ABC "debate"..

...he is a bought and paid for presstitute...

Brian Williams too...

Surprised to hear myaelf say it but sounds like old Perky got one right for a change...

The real question becomes what are they going to do about it now, and what are they going to do to make sure it doesn't happen again in the future (near or far)..??

[wtmusic]

18. "The questions were asked" my ass

There were no questions asked. Gung Ho Charlie can't provide one instance of on-air debate about whether the impending massacre might be morally questionable.

[Bjorn Against]

50. Well he did ask the tough questions about who was wearing a flag pin.

[femmedem]

44. And he also said it wasn't their job to debate them, just ask the questions.

Or, paraphrased, it's not the press's job to investigate whether or not the government is being truthful, just to report what the government says. So he was saying that yes, he is a stenographer. And he sees nothing wrong with that. :banghead:

[Geoff R. Casavant]

8. Well, she knows which way the wind is blowing now.

I recall when she had Condoleeza Rice in an interview and spent the majority of the time asking how hard it was for a Secretary of State to ask someone for a date.

[Spazito]

10. Wasn't it Katie Couric who did the "Seals Rock" photo op?

I agree with what she is saying now but it really is too little, too late.

[underpants]

12. Yes... BUT.. Michael Moore tells the story of the "anonymous TV host"

who he says told him "You have to keep asking these questions. We can't. They have made it very clear"

Or something to that effect. Moore told that story on his website I believe and putting 2 and 2 together of what shows he was allowed on at the time it was pretty much considered to have been Couric. Moore never let on who it was other than telling the story.

[Spazito]

21. I hadn't heard that re MM....

It is unfortunate, to say the least, there were none with principles strong enough to do the right thing instead of the safe thing as was done by Ms. Couric. No matter who it was who told MM this, it translates to me as them saying 'You take the flak because I am not principled enough to do it myself.' I do not find that stance at all praiseworthy.

[calimary]

22. I saw Michael Moore speak once (moderated by John Dean - sheer HEAVEN!!!)

and he had a Katie Couric story.

He said she was interviewing him about "Fahrenheit 9/11" when she was still on the "Today" show. He had mentioned how the press hadn't pursued any of this - intimidation and all that. Interview over, they cut to commercial, and started taking off their lapel mikes. He recalled that she leaned over close to him and whispered "you know, you're so right." And he says she proceeded to recount her own experience - she'd interviewed some White House official and afterward got a stern memo from "upstairs" telling her in no uncertain terms to COOL IT. Seems the NBC brass had received a phone call from the vice pResident's office from someone who didn't like "her tone of voice" during the interview. Michael Moore said he replied - "WHY don't you SAY SOMETHING??????!?!?!?!?!??! WHY don't you write an op/ed piece about this in the New York Times or something? You're Katie Couric! You're one of three people in the entire country who can't be fired (at least not back then when she was Queen of Morning Television)!" Her response? "Someday, I will."

"Someday".

Yawn.

Looks like she's at least mouthing some of the words. Lo these many YEARS later, and lo these many THOUSANDS OF AMERICAN AND INNOCENT IRAQI LIVES later.

I said several months ago, here on DU, that this was gonna happen. After dougie feith issued his pathetic book about how he well, yeah, was in on it a little, but EVERYBODY ELSE WAS IN IT TOO AND THEY WERE WAY MORE BAD THAN HE WAS AND THEY MADE HIM DO IT AND THEY WERE JUST REALLY AWFUL AND MEAN AND STUFF!!!!!! LOOK OVER THERE EVERYBODY!!! THEY DID IT!!! THEY MADE ME DO IT!!!!

You're gonna see truckloads of these miserable, sniveling, pathetic books - written by a cavalcade of miserable, sniveling, pathetic former bush apologists hoping to assuage their guilty consciences or trying to cover their asses and avoid eventual prosecution. Truckloads. There will be the "I didn't do it" books, the "they made me do it" books, the "it wasn't my fault" books, the "I wuz framed" books, the "I didn't mean to do it" books, the "I had nothing to do with it" books, the "they forced me to do it" books, the "they threatened me and made me scared and so I did it" books and a whole slew of different versions of the "I tried to stop it but nobody would listen to me" books. You're gonna see all of these and more. There will be the "bush did it" books, the "bush was lied to, too!" books (like snotty scotty's), the "everybody around bush did it" books, and various "everybody around bush did it except for me or inspite of me trying to stop them or other such rot" books.

And these and others will all be published by people WE know are guilty as sin, collaborators and appeasers beyond anything Neville Chamberlain could rationalize. They're nothing but a bunch of latter-day Lady MacBeths. And all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten their little (blood-covered) hands.

BTW - it is up to us to help others to see that these lovelies, Couric, Williams, and all the rest of 'em, are GUILTY AS SIN, and did not ask or try to ask ANY of these questions that some of them are now huffing and puffing with the greatest of indignation that they did try to ask. BULLSHIT. We saw the interviews and the White House Press Corpse gaggles and briefings. WE SAW THEM. WE KNOW THE TRUTH. And we should remind them of that. None of them should get off - pardon the pun - scott-free on this.

Interestingly enough, I saw this play out on CNN last night. YOU WATCH as the denials and the protestations start oozing out of these open, pus-filled wounds. They're all either gonna deny it or start scrambling desperately to distance themselves from it. Ed Henry on CNN was covering the story on Anderson Cooper's show, and while he was trying to downplay it he made a very deliberate point of saying that he wasn't covering the White House "at the time." You just watch. This is only the beginning. They're all gonna scatter for cover like a bunch of cockroaches in a New York City apartment after hours when you suddenly turn the lights on.

[FredStembottom]

27. Calimary, you're wonderful.

This deserves to be a thread of it's own.

You are ahead of me here and I appreciate you getting me up to speed. The hilarious bunch of books you describe would be the next logical step, wouldn't it.

The completely un-funny part is that this may be all we ever get. With the thousands of crimes of the last 7.5 years "off-the-table", mealy-mouthed books full of obfuscations is all we will ever see, isn't it.

[calimary]

32. Thanks! I'm working on a column about this even now.

BTW - here's the current one, in case you might be interested:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6156725

[calimary]

47. Here! Huffington Post just picked it up!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-lyon/the-i-didnt-do-it-letter_b_103952.html

And yes, I used a lot of material I originally generated here, including my recollections of Michael Moore's Katie Couric story.

DANG I love DU!!!!

[Virginian]

28. Helen Thomas, David Gregory, Dan Rather?

Helen Thomas and David Gregory would ask the questions, but they couldn't get any straight answers.

As the multitude of excuses kept coming from the White House I had questions:

"Saddam gassed his own people." -- So why did it take us twelve years to become offended by that?

"There are terrorist camps in Iraq." -- Yeah, up in the Kurdish region that we control.

"Saddam kicked out the UN inspectors." -- And he let them back in and then Bush told them to leave.

"Saddam won't disarm." -- How do we know that he has anything to give up?

"We know Saddam has WMD and where they are." -- So tell the UN inspectors so they can find them.

"Saddam has WMD programs." -- That is not the same as being an immediate threat.

And my biggest question: What is the real reason we attacked Iraq? I think it was to enrich the Bush base and to follow the Neo-Con plan for the Middle East.

Look what happened to Dan Rather. He was so discredited that he is no longer on any Broadcast station. My cable doesn't even carry HDNet. He was used as an example to the others. As sole support of two minor children, Katie couldn't risk a similar fate.

Show a little appreciation for Dan Rather. He took the risk.

[calimary]

31. Even David Gregory took his own sweet time growing even a minimal backbone.

Helen Thomas was there from the start. She had this asshole pegged EARLY-ON - saying bush would prove to be the "Worst President Ever." And that was before ANYONE else dared to speak up, including David Gregory. As I recall, he didn't start "fiercing up" on this White House until early 2004 - when the whole mess with bush's Texas Air National Guard scam-duty started breaking. And then yes, David Gregory did start distinguishing himself with some tough and fairly relentless questioning.

But all this bullshit from people like tucker carlson and chris matthews - about how they were never for the war or had opposed it early-on - is just that: BULLSHIT. I remember watching the both of them, in particular, and never once did they stop cheerleading. They were so obnoxious about the "Captain Codpiece" strut on "Mission Accomplished Day" that it damn near made me want to throw up.

As for Katie Couric, yes maybe in one sense she couldn't risk being "Dan Rathered" - but even back then, after the many years she'd already cohosted the "Today" show, she had made enough money that she could indeed have been able to afford to take a hit. She had a contract worth millions a year. And she didn't spend it all that recklessly. I think she could have survived - with her reputation and integrity intact. But all anybody has to do, in her case, is revisit "Fahrenheit 9/11" and see her in full Gidget mode in the "heat of battle", gushing about how "Navy Seals ROCK!!!!!" Now, she's little more than just another example of damaged media goods.

[Virginian]

37. Of all people, Pat Buchanan

At the time of the promotion of the war, there was the "Buchanan and Press" show on MSNBC. I remember that both of them were opposed to the war. I thought it strange that I could agree with Pat on anything, but I have found other things I agree with him about. One is that all the votes he got in Palm Beach County couldn't have possibly have been meant for him. He has said several things that don't support the White House. Just when you think he might not be so bad after all, he jumps on the McCain band wagon.

I don't remember "Navy Seals ROCK," but one can support the troops without supporting the war. Was she actually promoting Bush's War?

I do not remember Tweety being opposed to Bush's War. I was surprised later to hear him say so because I thought I remembered him as a war cheerleader. He seemed to change during the Valerie Plame outing. I wonder if when Rove told him Wilson't wife was fair game if he also threatened Tweety's wife. The White house also called Tim Russert and told him to muzzle Tweety. That seems to be about the time Tweety started asking real questions; his wife left her local news anchor job shortly thereafter.

Back in the early days after 9/11, Bush's popularity was way up. Bill Maher was kicked off the air for saying that our politicians were not as bold as the hijackers. The Dixie Chicks were shunned for being embarassed that they came from the same state as Bush. There were only around 10% of us who didn't follow Dubya. I found DU and signed up sometime within 12 months before Bush attacked Iraq. This was the only place I felt I could get the real news. This was the place where I could ask, "Is it my imagination, or has Bush morphed the name 'Osama' into 'Saddam?' Has anyone even heard him say 'Osama' within the past week or two?" He was real slick and many of those who weren't paying attention were now saying Saddam and thinking Osama. That is one of the ways the White House was able to make the sheeple think Iraq had something to do with 9/11.

[underpants]

40. That's it!! That's the story I was talking about

OOpps I got the timing off but that was basically it.

Thanks

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

14. Wasn't it Katie Couric who was on an Aircraft Carrier in the Gulf...

Reporting the start of "Shock & Awe" like it was the start of the super bowl?

I agree with you when you said. "I agree with what she is saying now but it really is too little, too late."

[underpants]

41. The one 54 miles off the San Diego coastline?

Yeah the Today show was there. All of the reporters were there, of course no mention of how they all got there but W needed to fly in on a military aircraft

That telecast was memorable for Ann Curry actually leading a "USA! USA! USA!" cheer (no kidding) with some Navy crew members. Horrific.

[leftchick]

16. Couric: ‘Not My Job’ To Critically Report On Iraq, ‘Unless Something Is Really Egregious’»

from sept. 2007.... :eyes:

http://thinkprogress.org/2007/09/28/couric-on-iraq/

Recently, CBS anchor Katie Couric traveled to the Middle East for a “heavily promoted week in the war zone,” reporting the situation on the ground from Iraq. Her reporting was superficial and uncritical, airing several “puff pieces” mouthing Bush administration talking points.

This week, Couric spoke at the National Press Club with host Marvin Kalb to discuss “Democracy and the Press.” Couric explained that her goal in Iraq was to appear neutral and avoid “a Walter Cronkite moment,” as she put it:

Is it my job to go over and say this war is terrible and withdrawal is necessary? I don’t necessarily think that is the case. … I don’t necessarily feel that unless there is a clear cut factual element to it. … I have never really saw it as my role, unless something is really egregious and without question wrong.

Kalb rebutted Couric’s assertions, charging that she offered only neutered judgments about the status on the ground and missed an opportunity to critically assess the situation in Iraq:

You offered only one judgment about the war. And you cushioned that by the way. You said, “There are definitely areas where the situation is improving.” Fine. But you then asked nine questions, nine important questions about Iraq. But you didn’t even make an effort to answer them. … You have been there. You’re an anchor every night. You’ve seen the material that flows into you. Surely on some of those nine issues, you must have had a strong feeling.

Watch it:

[Botany]

17. Navy Seals Rock

1st Scott McClellan now Couric

Just last year Katie was in Iraq and "ran into" bush and helped to sell the surge. :puke:

[MidwestTransplant]

19. Maybe they asked questions but they sure didn't do an independent evaluation. Cowards.....

[L0oniX]

20. "one of the most embarrassing chapters in American journalism". No shit. That's why ...

I don't watch CeeBS ABC and FOX

[AndyTiedye]

23. Steven Colbert Had it Nailed

"We Dictate You Type"

[ronnie624]

25. That intellectual mite,

Charles Gibson, says "I think that the media did a pretty good job of focusing and asking the questions. We were not given access to get into the country,.... to go along with the inspectors, but the questions were asked, the questions were asked. It was just a drum beat from the government, but I think it's convenient now to blame the media, but I don't."

Anyone who had a genuine interest in the events leading up to the invasion knew that the Bush Administration was lying, and in fact, I remember watching here on DU as their lies were debunked, one after another, long before the invasion, sometimes within hours. Colin Powell's performance at the U.N. immediately comes to mind. Of course, access to foreign and alternative news sources was required. Being in Iraq was not requisite to learning the truth.

[frylock]

26. NAVY SEALS ROCK!!!

[Algorem]

29. she trying to get some viewers?

[chelsea0011]

33. "mood of the country".....Williams????????? There was plenty of

opportunity to report to the country that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 but MSM didn't. It had nothing to do with the mood of the country. The country was almost 100% for going after Osama bin Laden but with all the lies about Iraq with out the proper reporting on this turned 9/11 into drumbeat to fight for Iraq's oil. Sorry Williams, you and yours didn't do the job. And Gibson? You are no journalist.

[coalition_unwilling]

35. Wrong, Katie. Your responsibility is to ALWAYS ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS,

especially on the grave matter of war. From 2002 - 04, you and your colleagues in the corporate whore media were little more than stenographers to power.

[NashVegas]

38. "If You Keep It Up, We're Going to Block Access to You During the War"

Kids, what's funny about that statement?

Start rolling at about :59

[calimary]

43. See, that's another really big sticking point for me.

I'm certain - I'd bet hard money on it - that some of these people were threatened with the loss of their precious fucking ACCESS to the bigshots and marquee-name insiders if they asked too many questions.

If it were me and I were running a network newsroom, I'd go ahead anyway, and let them yank my press credentials. Because then, THAT becomes the story - how you've been locked out because you're asking the uncomfortable questions that they refuse to answer, and you then ask why and start bringing on your OWN talking heads and pundits. The media COULD have fought back. The media could very much indeed have defied convention and pursued the story ANYWAY. And it's one they could have ridden for MONTHS. Besides, if you don't get the access to the White House and all their little friends freeze you out, then you're left with the OTHER SIDE, the OTHERS with the other, opposing views, and evidence and viewpoints that also have been frozen out. And you give THOSE your coverage and all your attention and you go balls to the wall on THAT. And eventually, they who froze you out will come back. At least somebody in their camp will realize they have to respond, so at least some of them will still, if reluctantly, take your phone calls.

[hatrack]

42. 4,000 American Lives Late, At Least $2 Trillion Short

Fuck off and die, Perky Katie.

[EstimatedProphet]

48. I believe this falls under the "Now I've seen everything" category...

[Tesla]

51. I was having a conversation with an old republican

yesterday over Scott McClellan and she was very disolusioned over all the lies. She couldn't believe we knew all this and didn't do anything. I told her we were screaming and everyone said we were wrong, unchristian,conspiracy theorist. I asked her how frustrated did she think I was when we were seeing it with our eyes and everyone around us saying we were unAmerican!

[jhain]

49. Gag Me With A Spoon

every time I hear her name that is all I can think:

Gag Me With A Spoon

[gasperc]

52. McClennen is thier escape hatch

Katie of "you guys rock" fame is full of shit. They didn't challenge lying fuck McClennen. Now the media is trying to say, it's not our fault, "they" lied to us. That's your fucking job assholes, to get the truth, of course they are going to fucking lie. Shit, you assholes had no problem calling Gore a liar.

[wryter2000]

53. Heard on Mama this morning

"What kind of perky idiot" allowed Bush to get away with lying us into war?

[primavera]

54. And it wasn't their responsibility to report on the millions of protestors?

This is what always infuriates me about journalists who claim that they were going along with the "mood of the country": millions upon millions of outraged citizens took to the streets around the globe to protest the invasion of Iraq. Virtually every country on earth told us we were behaving like total jackasses. Our coalition of the willing was limited to a handful of minor countries from whom we hired a few mercenaries to participate in our illegal invasion. Yet none of that was worth reporting on? Mood of the country, my ass. There were plenty of us who had brains and vehemently criticized the administration and Congress, but our voices were never reported in the mainstream press.

[happydreams]

55. Couric actually drilled then Sect. of State James Baker in the run-up

to the 1st Gulf war in 1990.