The Independent (UK)
April 25, 2003

BBC Chief: 'Shocking' and 'Gung-ho' Coverage of Iraq War

by Ian Burrell

Greg Dyke, director general of the BBC, attacked American television and radio networks for their "shocking" and "gung-ho" coverage of the Iraq conflict yesterday. He also issued a warning against US companies being allowed greater ownership of British media. . . .

Mr Dyke said America had "no news operation strong enough or brave enough to stand up against" the White House and Pentagon. . . .

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Enver Masud, "Broadcasting Fairness Doctrine Promised Balanced Coverage," July 25, 1997

Robert Fisk, "Saddam Statue Scene Staged," Independent, April 11, 2003

["For far too long, Hollywood has played a paradoxically hidden role in paving the way to America's war now winding down in Iraq. We first went to war with Iraq in 1943, with a movie called "Adventure in Iraq."--Jack Shaheen, "Will Hollywood stop Arab-bashing?," Los Angeles Times, April 21, 2003]

["What makes the difference today is the technology that produces an avalanche of repetitive information, which in the United States has been the source of arguably the most vociferous brainwashing in that country's history.

"A war that was hardly a war, that was so one-sided it ought to be despatched with shame in the military annals, was reported like a Formula One race, as we watched the home teams speed to the chequered flag in Baghdad's Firdos Square, where a statue of the dictator created and sustained by 'us' was pulled down in a ceremony that was as close to fakery as you could get."--John Pilger, "Something deeply corrupt is consuming journalism," April 25, 2003]

Robert Fisk, "Did the US Murder Journalists?," Independent, April 26, 2003

["If information is the oxygen of democracy, the United States has just been gassed, not by weapons of mass destruction but by a weapon of mass distraction.

". . . the hammer is about to drop on the Internet too. The head of the FCC, Michael Powell, wants to give away what's left of the store to the broadband cable and satellite providers and make them gatekeepers or tollbooths on the information highway."--Ian Masters, "Media Monopolies Have Muzzled Dissent," Los Angeles Times, May 1, 2003]

["Whether this endeavor in Iraq will turn out to be worth the doing is now at a critical point, and the media have decided it's no longer a story. . . . But the weirdest media reaction of all is to the ongoing non-appearance of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."--Molly Ivins, "'Damn, we're Americans!'," Creators Syndicate, May 8, 2003]

["U.S. intelligence on Iraq's WMD deserves a second look. So does the reporting of the New York Times' Judith Miller. "--Jack Shafer, "Reassessing Miller," Slate, May 29, 2003]