BE VERY AFRAID - VICKI GRAY

Be afraid, be very afraid. Freedom of the press and, with it, your
right to know is under frontal assault.

I know whereof I speak. I worked for three years in communist Poland
with the United States Information Agency and some of my best friends
at the time were Polish communist journalists who, despite that second
adjective, sought to report truthfully, helpfully to their fellow
Poles on what was happening in their country and the world.

Those journalists, struggling to be honest, shared with me their
thoughts on dealing with censorship. It was a time -- in the
mid-1970s -- when rules were being "loosened." Prior to that time,
they wrote the truth as they saw it and let the censors do their
dirty work. Pieces of the truth would leak out, and they were not
responsible. Afterward, however, prior censorship was removed. They
were "free" to print what they wanted within the loose guidelines of
what was and was not acceptable. If, however, their stories
discomfited the government or party, they could be fired or jailed.

Those communist journalists, testing the limits of the system,
confided to me that they preferred the old way of doing things. They
could test those limits boldly with little fear of retribution. Under
the new rules, however, they had to exercise judgment and be prepared
to accept the consequences of any misjudgment. They became more
timid, more gun shy, pulling their punches in advance.

American journalists, I fear, are now in that same uncomfortable
situation and headed rapidly in the opposite direction, not toward
greater freedom, but toward a priori enforced censorship. American
media, as Bill Moyers said in a courageous speech May 15, is now
being cowed into what he called "preventative capitulation."

What began a couple of years ago as a drip by drip draining of the
life blood of our freedom of the press has been transformed almost
overnight into a life-threatening hemorrhage.

The American media, especially the broadcast media, are being
transformed -- before our very eyes -- into a sycophantic propaganda
arm of our ruling government and party.

Item: The literal drumbeat of cheerleading by the media for the Iraq
war, coverage marked by the "political analysis" of colonels,
breathless reports from "embedded" "journalists," flapping American
flags in the corners of your TV screens, and freedom of information
requests needed to see the American flags on the coffins of our
heroes.

Item: The manipulated chicanery last year of Swift Boat Vets,
"Rathergate," and the pre-election stand-down before the gates of
Fallujah, giving the insurgents there months to prepare for the
assault that began two days after the election.

Item: Planted stories by Armstrong Williams and planted questions by
Jeff Gannon (aka James Guckert), whose White House pass has gotten a
press pass.

Item: Taxpayer funded "infomercials" touting Administration programs
circulated as "news" clips to small town TV stations.

Item: The Administration outing of Valerie Plame, the undercover CIA
wife of an Administration critic, the recipient of the leak,
Administration-insider Robert Novak, going untouched, while reporters
who didn't report the story are being threatened with jail time.

Item: Staged "town hall" meetings covered as "news" by Fox and CNN.

Item: The Pentagon Channel, a military propaganda outlet, being piped
into American homes by satellite dish providers.

Item: Kenneth Tomlinson, a veteran of Charles Z. Wick's Voice of
America, now dispatched by Karl Rove to whip PBS and, now, NPR, into
"preventative capitulation."

It is against this background that the White House brow-beating of
Newsweek over its story about the alleged desecration of the Qu'ran
in Guantanamo Bay engenders such fear. Never mind that the story is
probably true, having been reported months earlier by released
detainees. Never mind that Newsweek had floated the story by the
Pentagon without eliciting a denial. Never mind that the Department
of State had promised to investigate the allegations. Never mind the
still oozing scab of Abu Ghraib.

Violent protests erupted across Afghanistan and the Muslim world --
precisely because the story, which is so in line with our already
demonstrated behavior, is so believable. But, according to White
House spokesman Scott McClellan, the image of the United States, had
been "tarnished" -- not by substance of the allegations, but the fact
that they were reported. He demanded a retraction by Newsweek. There
was Rumsfeld of Abu Ghraib lecturing the American media about their
"responsibility" to be "careful" and "cautious." Never mind
addressing the content of the story, attack the messenger! Beat the
reporter, the respected Michael Isikoff, and his editors into
submission. And so they have, shamelessly.

And, at the end of the day, Newsweek could not take the pressure.
Watching Isikoff's editor, Newsweek Washington bureau chief David
Klaidman, playing back Rumsfeld's words on Charlie Rose, my thoughts
drifted back to communist Poland. "You can always be more cautious,"
he said, "We will redouble our efforts to be careful." The way in
which he swallowed the lump in his throat, like a chastised child,
was as instructive as his words. The chill made its way up my spine.
Suddenly I was very afraid.

Gray, a retired Foreign Service Officer, writes "Vicki's Views" on
vickigray.com.

There was a time when I would have thought Vicki Gray's warning (above) was an exaggeration, but not any longer. Her warning seems accurate and scary--I think she has it right.


http://www.aljazeera.com/me.asp?service_ID=8262
U.S. and Iraqi military forces detain journalists
5/18/2005 9:00:00 PM GMT

Eight Iraqi journalists' whereabouts are unknown after being detained by U.S. and Iraqi forces


The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is demanding an explanation from U.S. and Iraqi military forces regarding the whereabouts of least eight Iraqi journalists who have been detained since March 2005.

CPJ called on U.S. and Iraqi officials to publicly explain the basis for the journalists' continued detention.

According to CPJ, U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Boylan said that the journalists pose a "security risk to the Iraqi people and coalition forces."

No further details were given.

All eight of the journalists work for Western news organisations and though none of the journalists have been formally charged Boylan gave no indication that they would be.

Two of the missing employees are believed to be employees of Agence France-Presse (AFP), reporter Ammar Daham Naef Khalaf, who was detained by U.S. troops on 11 April in Ramadi, and photographer Fares Nawaf al-Issaywi, who was arrested in Fallujah on 1 May.

A freelance cameraman working with the U.S. broadcaster CBS News remains in custody after being detained by U.S. forces in early April on suspicion of rebel activity.

The cameraman, whose name CBS has withheld for safety reasons, was taken into custody after being wounded by U.S. forces' fire while he filmed clashes in Mosul in northern Iraq. CBS News reported last month that the U.S. military said footage in the journalists' camera led them to suspect he had prior knowledge of attacks against coalition forces. AFP also cited U.S. officials as saying the journalist "tested positive for explosive residue."

Another detainee, Hassan al-Shummari, reports for the privately owned satellite station Diyar TV, says CPJ. He was detained in the Diyala province in March or early April and remains in custody.

U.S. officials have often alleged that some Iraqi journalists collaborate with the Iraqi anti-occupation fighters, claims which the military have rarely tried to provide evidence to substantiate with.

"We are deeply concerned by the arbitrary nature of these detentions and are concerned that these journalists are in detention merely for doing their work," CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper said. "U.S. and Iraqi officials must credibly explain the basis for these detentions at once."