The Press on Trial
Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s trial and conviction on obstruction of justice and perjury charges shone a much needed light on the sordid and ruthless attempts of the Bush/Cheney White House to disparage an outspoken opponent of the invasion of Iraq and, in the process, expose the identity of his wife as a covert CIA agent.
The trial has also exposed the all too cosy relationship between the mainstream press and the Bush administration and afforded us a glimpse of how easy it was for reporters from such distinguished publications as the New York Times to be manipulated by Cheney, Rove et al in building the case for the Iraq war. It was far from an edifying sight.
The media let the country down badly in behaving more like an enabler for the administration than an independent institution seeking to hold the case for war up to appropriate and probing scrutiny. The image of the press as tireless protector of the public good using inside sources and whistleblowers to expose government deceit, dishonesty, malfeasance and incompetence has been replaced by one in which the media allowed itself to be manipulated and co-opted by hacks from an administration that played the game so very well with skill and discipline.
If the Libby trial has caused the press to re-examine its own gullibility and culpability, and to bring to bear a more sceptical eye to anything this administration is peddling, so much the better for all of us.
