The Patriotic Journalist

The apex for the "skeptical journalists" came in the mid-1970s when the press followed up exposure of Richard Nixon's Watergate scandal and disclosure of the Vietnam War's Pentagon Papers with revelations of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) abuses, such as illegal spying on Americans and helping Chile's army oust an elected government.

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But this journalistic skepticism represented an affront to government officials who had long enjoyed a relatively free hand in the conduct of foreign policy. The Wise Men and the Old Boys - the stewards of the post-World War II era - now faced a harder time lining up public consensus behind any action.

This national security elite, including then-CIA director George H W Bush, viewed the post-Vietnam journalism as a threat to America's ability to strike at its perceived enemies around the world.

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One early turning point in the switch from "skeptical" journalism to "patriotic" journalism occurred in 1976 with the blocking of Otis Pike's congressional report on CIA misdeeds. CIA director Bush had lobbied behind the scenes to convince Congress that suppressing the report was important for national security.