Is this a "scandal" of the press as much as it is of the White House?

Libby said he told Russert. Russert said no way. Judy Miller spent time rather than talk about it. Robert Novak was the first to expose Plame's name. Matt Cooper was questioned and threatened with jail. Chris Matthews was questioned. And now Bob Woodward is being questioned? How deep is the press involved in this scandal and who will police the policemen? Can we rely on the press to report on themselves or their role in this scandal? Can the White House "bribe" the press to whitewash this scandal?

The merging of media and the Bush administration is on display for all to see. There is simply no denying it now.

fascist press there would be no bush..no bush=no criminal war on IRaq.

The scandal is how the press sells itself to those in power in exchange for scoopes, ratings and prestige.

The problem is that there is no regulation of the press to force them to follow any kind of standards of integrity, ethics or honesty. I'm not advocating government regulation of the media but it's sad that we're in a let the consumer (of news) beware! situation. It means we cannot trust our news sources at all...and I don't know what will replace the vaunted 4th Estate .

Ideas?

Thoughts?

However, in a good way Miller and other traitors are showing the public to not only question their government but also DO NOT believe everything
reporters print.

not just the mistakes that journalists have made in reporting the CIA leak case, but the general manipulation of the media by the Bush Administration over the past 5 years. Remember:
- paying columnists to promote the Bush agenda
- planting a "reporter" among the White House press corps
- "embedding" reporters among U.S. troops in Iraq
- using surrogates (e.g., Swift Boat Veterans) to play dirty tricks and then claiming that they had nothing to do with it
- using right-wing talk shows, Fox News (an oxymoron if there ever was one), and the Washington Times to promote their agenda
- constantly using "Iraq" and "9/11" in the same sentence while denying that they ever claimed the two were linked
- sending the White House press secretary out to tell bald-faced lies
- bypassing the Washington press and going to local news outlets that are likely to be much less probing
- leaking information to one reporter and then claiming that they were merely passing along information they got from another reporter (to whom they also leaked the story); Chris Matthews calls this the "alley-oop play"
Taken together, these examples paint a very Orwellian picture--and one that ought to scare the hell out of anyone who believes in the role of a free press in the maintenance of democracy.

The press (or, if you prefer, the media) is supposed to be the "Fourth Estate," i.e., the people's watchdog over government, the church, and big business. In recent years, we have seen the press kowtowing not only to the government, but to the church and big business as well.

Yes, it is now abundantly clear that Judith Miller was a pawn of the neo-cons in the White House. When someone suggested months ago that Bob Novak was also a pawn, he bristled (to put it mildly). It wasn't until he walked off the CNN set that people began to question his objectivity openly. Now, we have Bob Woodward. When his first book on the Bush Administration came out, a few brave souls in the media suggested that Woodward tries to please both sides in order to sell books and keep his contacts open. Woodward shrugged off that comment, and most people in the media dared not question this "icon" of the press. They should now, but they should not stop there.

Miller, Novak, Woodward, and others are merely individual examples of a much greater crisis in the media. The profession has some serious soul-searching to do. Very serious.

to see who could get the best sources. At the detriment of their profession and our nation. "Senior Administration Officials" seemed to be the ticket everyone was looking for?

And Judy Miller is the poster girl for everything that is wrong with our corporate-embedded media.

opinion. Despised by the right for being the liberal press, despised by the left for being the conservative press, and unable to distinguish between facts and punditry, they have left their working class roots far behind for stardom.

attck Fitzgerald.

I said as much to my wife last night.