Well, How Did We Get Here?

Bill Moyers comes back to series TV with a splash tonight in a special Bill Moyers Journal spotlighting the collapse of mainstream journalism in the run up to the war in Iraq. Man, was it ever depressing. The whole thing is not really much of a secret these days (although I suppose it could be for those who--like the press itself--refuse to examine or even acknowledge the issue), but I don't think I've seen it presented in such a systematic, straightforward, and still accessible manner. Here's how Moyers introduced it:

Four years ago this spring the Bush administration took leave of reality and plunged our country into a war so poorly planned it soon turned into a disaster. The story of how high officials misled the country has been told. But they couldn't have done it on their own; they needed a compliant press, to pass on their propaganda as news and cheer them on.

Since then thousands of people have died, and many are dying to this day. Yet the story of how the media bought what the White House was selling has not been told in depth on television. As the war rages into its fifth year, we look back at those months leading up to the invasion, when our press largely surrendered its independence and skepticism to join with our government in marching to war.

A few people--Dan Rather, Peter Beinart--were there to offer mea culpas, but some of the journalists still didn't quite understand what had happened. One of Moyers's most striking interviews was with Tim Russert, first talking about a particular Meet the Press interview:

BILL MOYERS: Was it just a coincidence in your mind that Cheney came on your show and others went on the other Sunday shows, the very morning that [Judith Miller's NEW YORK TIMES story about Saddam's search for aluminum tubes] appeared?

TIM RUSSERT: I don't know. The NEW YORK TIMES is a better judge of that than I am.

BILL MOYERS: No one tipped you that it was going to happen?

TIM RUSSERT: No, no. I mean-

BILL MOYERS: The-- the Cheney-- office didn't make any-- didn't leak to you that there's gonna be a big story?

TIM RUSSERT: No. No. I mean, I don't-- I don't have the-- this is, you know, on MEET THE PRESS, people come on and there are no ground rules. We can ask any question we want. I did not know about the aluminum-tube story until I read it in the NEW YORK TIMES.

BILL MOYERS: Critics point to September eight, 2002 and to your show in particular, as the classic case of how the press and the government became inseparable.

Someone in the administration plants a dramatic story in the NEW YORK TIMES And then the Vice President comes on your show and points to the NEW YORK TIMES. It's a circular, self-confirming leak.

TIM RUSSERT: I don't know how Judith Miller and Michael Gordon reported that story, who their sources were. It was a front-page story of the NEW YORK TIMES. When Secretary Rice and Vice President Cheney and others came up that Sunday morning on all the Sunday shows, they did exactly that.

TIM RUSSERT: What my concern was, is that there were concerns expressed by other government officials. And to this day, I wish my phone had rung, or I had access to them.

Damn Tim Russert's non-ringing phone!

Here's more from later in the show:

TIM RUSSERT: I-- look, I'm a blue-collar guy from Buffalo. I know who my sources are. I work 'em very hard. It's the mid-level people that tell you the truth. Now-

BILL MOYERS: They're the ones who know the story?

TIM RUSSERT: Well, they're working on the problem. And they understand the detail much better than a lotta the so-called policy makers and-- and-- and political officials.

BILL MOYERS: But they don't get on the Sunday talk shows--

TIM RUSSERT: No. You-- I mean-- they don't want to be, trust me. I mean, they can lose their jobs, and they know it. But they're-- they can provide information which can help in me challenging or trying to draw out-- sometimes their bosses and other public officials.

Sorry to butt in, but given his ear to the ground and his unimpeachable sources, isn't it a bit odd that Russert doesn't at least express a hint of dismay that the Bushies played him so effortlessly?

BILL MOYERS: What do you make of the fact that of the 414 Iraq stories broadcast on NBC, ABC and CBS nightly news, from September 2002 until February 2003, almost all the stories could be traced back to sources from the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department?

TIM RUSSERT: It's important that you have a-- an oppos-- opposition party. That's our system of government.

BILL MOYERS: So, it's not news unless there's somebody-

TIM RUSSERT: No, no, no. I didn't say that. But it's important to have an opposition party, your opposit-- opposing views.

Well, maybe it's not odd at all. Damn those Democrats and their lackluster opposition. What's Russert supposed to do if the opposition doesn't oppose properly? Why, ignore any other side of the question, of course.

Moyers is set for a nice Web presence, too. Check out the show's Website, which also lets you watch the episode, read the transcript, or check out an interactive timeline of the run up to war and its media coverage.

The regular run of the show starts on PBS on Friday night (check your local listings--you know the drill), and if tonight is anything to go by, it'll be worth tuning in.