PressEthic

This is an interesting article about a speech from New York Times executive editor Bill Keller to an audience at the University of Michigan. First, the most salient excerpt:

"The American media let the country down in its reporting before the war.''

Unfortunately, Keller had no idea about this until it was too late. Hindsight being 20/20, Keller owns up to believing the pre-war hype delivered from the White House at the time.

"That said, the notion that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was not an eccentric notion in the year before the United States invaded Iraq.''

The Times had run stories suggesting Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Keller said he has owned up to the incredulous reporting in the newspaper but many people, including scientists and officials in the Clinton administration, also believed Iraq had the weapons.

Now, there is nothing new here about the media in relation to the lead-up to war, but at least Keller owns up to it. And in the end, should the media take all the blame? When you are dealing with such a secretive administration, how are you supposed to handle the information they disseminate?

Fighting terrorists takes alliances at home and abroad, said Keller, who blasted the Bush administration for being the most secretive since Nixon's.

"The war in Iraq alone is a case study of the administration's determination to dominate the flow of information,'' he said.

Other ethical questions come up in the article concerning the publishing of the illegal wiretapping story, which has been commented on and discussed before on this site. One key question is whether releasing that information could have swayed the 2004 election (even though Keller believes it would have not)?

But back to the main point. I am one of the many people who criticized the media for their handling of the lead-up to the war in Iraq. And as much as the coverage bothers me, I give credit to Keller for at least coming out and acknowledging the press' shortcomings. At least by pointing out mistakes, perhaps they can be avoided in the future (though that's probably wishful thinking).