Journalism in Time of War

Commentaries


Commentaries

"Iraq is a story that won't go away"
Peter Johnson, USA Today, May 1, 2003

"TV trounced newspapers during Iraq war"
Mark Fitzgerald, Editor & Publisher, April 30, 2003

"History redux"
Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, April 30, 2003

"Missteps by press color Iraqi perceptions"
Craig Nelson, Editor and Publisher, April 29, 2003

"What, no smoking gun? The media and the specter of WMD"
Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, April 23, 2003

"Headlining media moments"
Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe, April 22, 2003

"My big fat question"
Michael Wolff, New York, April 21, 2003

"This living room war"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, April 21, 2003

"A skeptical journalist isn't an unpatriotic one"
David Shaw, Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2003

"Media fickleness just what we needed"
C.W. Nevius, San Francisco Chronicle, April 21, 2003

"The rules for covering brutal dictatorships aren't black and white"
Ethan Bronner, New York Times, April 21, 2003

"In hoopla over a P.O.W., a mirror of U.S. society"
Alessandra Stanley, New York Times, April 18, 2003

"CNN's Eason Jordan has no apologies"
Jon Friedman, CBS MarketWatch, April 18, 2003

"About CNN: Hold your fire"
Dante Chinni, Christian Science Monitor, April 17, 2003

"Foreign matters"
Dan Kennedy, Boston Phoenix, April 18, 2003

"War coverage good, but should not be sanitized"
Paul Janensch, Hartford Courant, April 17, 2003

"CNN will limp away from the field"
Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times, April 16, 2003

"Cable's war coverage suggests a new 'Fox Effect' on television"
Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, April 16, 2003

"War stories -- told and untold"
Ellen Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 16, 2003

"In broken Baghdad, photo negatives"
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, April 15, 2003

"Censoring the dead"
Peter Preston, Guardian, April 14, 2003

"Down in the trenches, up in the public's opinion"
Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, April 14, 2003

"Who won, and who lost, in the media battle"
Peter Johnson, USA Today, April 14, 2003

"A news-altering experience?"
Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times, April 13, 2003

"Help them create a BBC of their own"
Anthony Borden, Washington Post, April 13, 2003

"The spoils of war coverage"
Frank Rich New York Times, April 13, 2003

"Objectivity is lost to Fox News' barbs"
Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2003

"In the blitz of images, a defining moment"
Bob Baker, Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2003

"Fox's frame"
Michael Ryan, TomPaine.com, April 10, 2003

"Powerful TV image obscures details"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, April 10, 2003

"It's the drums of war - & then a station break"
David Hinckley, New York Daily News, April 10, 2003

"Tempered coverage of stunning scenes"
Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe, April 10, 2003

"Kicking Cable: What do you need from TV in wartime?"
Virginia Heffernan, Slate, April 8, 2003

"Networks showing up cable news in war coverage"
Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 8, 2003

"Buzzwords of war"
James Sullivan, San Francisco Chronicle, April 8, 2003

"The pen, mightier than the minicam?"
Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, April 7, 2003

"Live from Iraq, ready or not"
Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times, April 7, 2003

"Live from Doha . . ."
Michael Wolff, New York, April 7, 2003

"How Fox is winning the war"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, April 4, 2003

"War leaves little time for the rest of the news"
Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2003

"Glaring exceptions aside, war correspondents doing job"
Paul Janensch, Hartford Courant, April 3, 2003

"Moral clarity: An unauthorized glossary of war"
Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, April 2, 2003

"Chris Hedges on 'distorted' war coverage"
Barbara Bedway, Editor and Publisher, April 2, 2003

"Direct from the Pentagon... It's the nightly news"
Sharon Basco, TomPaine.com, April 2, 2003

"Sacking Arnett for the wrong reason"
Jack Shafer, Slate, April 1, 2003

"No honest eyewitness: There’s little truth coming out of Baghdad"
Tim Graham, National Review, April 1, 2003

"Honesty: The worst policy"
Doug Ireland, TomPaine.com, April 1, 2003

"Was Arnett's firing fair?"
Bob Steele, Kelly McBride, and Aly Colón, Poynter.org, April 1, 2003

Arnett's firing, Rivera's conduct like a prime time soap opera"
Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle, April 1, 2003

"Viewing war is not the same as understanding it"
Jack Fuller, Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2003

"This time, Baghdad isn't a soundstage"
Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times, March 31, 2003

"Wall-to-wall war coverage feeds a rush to judgment"
Robert Bianco, USA Today, March 31, 2003

"Iraq around the clock"
Frank Rich, New York Times, March 31, 2003

"Behind the lines"
Michael Wolff, New York, March 31, 2003

"Invasion honeymoon is over; news media get contentious"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2003

"The 'gee whiz' war"
Brian Lowry and Elizabeth Jensen, Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2003

"15 stories they've already bungled"
Greg Mitchell, Editor and Publisher, March 28, 2003

"Wars should end like miniseries: quick, tidy"
Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2003

"Reporters walking a fine line in sand"
Richard Huff, New York Daily News, March 27, 2003

"Images of war dead pose media dilemma"
Paul Janensch, Hartford Courant, March 27, 2003

"Live, but not really: The networks can show us more war than ever before—but they're choosing not to"
Meghan O'Rourke, Slate, March 26, 2003

Media get a bit combative: Questions become more pointed, but will coverage become more balanced?
Tim Goodman, San Francisco Chronicle, March 26, 2003

"The parallax view: Photos give a different perspective on 'operation freedom'"
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, March 26, 2003

"Grasping a war told in real time"
Tim Rutten, Los Angeles Times, March 26, 2003

"Realities of war put news ethics to test"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, March 26, 2003

"Paint it black: U.S. journos get rare access to hell"
Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, March 26, 2003

"It's all there in living color: In-your-face TV coverage unprecedented"
Carolyn Lochhead, San Francicso Chronicle, March 25, 2003

"POW TV: Why Rumsfeld should be careful about lecturing Saddam about the Geneva Conventions"
Jack Shafer, Slate, March 25, 2003

"After days of buoyant images, reporting enters a second and more ominous act"
Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, March 24, 2003

"War shows ugly side"
David Hinckley, New York Daily News, March 24, 2003

"Conflict constantly tests media boundaries"
Peter Johnson, USA Today, March 24, 2003

"Technology of war and television has left some too easily awed"
Robert Bianco, USA Today, March 24, 2003

"Show of awe: A thrill ride, but no blood"
Alessandra Stanley, New York Times, March 23, 2003

"Reality war: The battle of Umm Qasr—live and in color"
Fred Kaplan, Slate, March 23, 2003

"The networks' heavy artillery: Who'll win the battles of tag lines & toys?"
John Maynard, Washington Post, March 21, 2003

"'Little things' add up to jumpy, but compelling, news coverage"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, March 21, 2003

"It's the new reality TV"
Richard Huff, New York Daily News, March 21, 2003

"Flashes, minus the light"
David Hinckley, New York Daily News, March 21, 2003

"We interrupt this broadcast, but how much for how long?"
Bill Carter, New York Times, March 20, 2003

"Few eyes, ears in Baghdad"
Peter Johnson, USA Today, March 20, 2003

"War reality not as vivid as aerial bombing in '91"
Steve Johnson, Chicago Tribune, March 20, 2003

"Everyone can benefit from coverage on front lines, if it works"
Paul Janensch, Hartford Courant, March 20, 2003

"Left and right look for signs of bias in reporting"
Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, March 19, 2003

"War coverage is a reality check"
Stephen Battaglio, New York Daily News, March 19, 2003

"Let loose the ads of war"
Stefano Hatfield, Guardian, March 19, 2003

"Media watchdogs caught napping"
Leander Kahney, Wired, March 17, 2003

"Scud Stud lobs a missile at Bush"
Louise Witt, Salon, March 17, 2003

"War - what's it good for? Cable"
Richard Huff, New York Daily News, March 17, 2003

"Headlines would come from the front lines"
Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe, March 12, 2003

"Get your hood on: War reporting is risky business"
Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, March 12, 2003

"Press isn't asking right questions about Iraq"
Tom Wicker, Editor and Publisher, March 11, 2003

"In bed with the pentagon"
Jonathan Alter, Newsweek, March 10, 2003

"After invading Kuwait, reporters need boot camp"
Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, March 10, 2003

"Bush family values"
Michael Wolff, New York, March 10, 2003

"...And so embed"
William Safire, New York Times, March 9, 2003

"Embed with the pentagon: when you're part of the team you're no longer objective"
Michael Ryan, TomPaine.com, March 6, 2003

"Full metal junket: The myth of the objective war correspondent"
Jack Shafer, Slate, March 6, 2003

"Chronicle of a Gulf War foretold"
Cynthia Cotts, Village Voice, March 5, 2003

"Will the TV factory shape a new war?"
Brian Lowry, Los Angeles Times, February 26, 2003

"Even stars are allowed to think"
Howard Rosenberg, Los Angeles Times, February 21, 2003

"Journalists train for war coverage"
Don Wycliff, Chicago Tribune, February 21, 2003

"Dealing with the doubts"
Howard Kurtz, Washington Post, February 20, 2003

"Behind the great divide"
Paul Krugman, New York Times, February 18, 2003

"Media are ignoring nation's true concerns"
Joel Connelly, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 17, 2003

"A town meeting, a tape and terror"
Michael Getler, Washington Post, February 16, 2003

"Democrats soft on war push"
Paul Janensch, Hartford Courant, February 13, 2003

"Media salivates over high-tech Gulf War 2.0"
Mark Glaser, Online Journalism Review, February 12, 2003

"Preparing for a possible war story"
Paul Van Slambrouck, Christian Science Monitor, February 10, 2003

"Newspaper editorials conflicted over war"
Ari Berman, Editor and Publisher, January 30, 2003

"America's journalists debate pending war"
Greg Mitchell, Editor & Publisher, January 29, 2003

"The news media could be our weakest link"
Randy Atkins, Washington Post, January 27, 2003

"The dangers of plumbing public view on Iraq war"
Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe, January 22, 2003

"The media's war-drum beat"
Eric Alterman, Editor and Publisher, January 22, 2003

"War-protest news missing in action"
Tom Plate, San Francisco Chronicle, January 17, 2003

"War or no, news on cable already provides the drama"
Jim Rutenberg, New York Times, January 15, 2003

"Ready for some football, and war?"
Michael Getler, Washington Post, January 12, 2003