New York Times’ keen sense of the obvious

At the Weekly Standard Blogs, Michael Goldfarb delves into an 11-page article in the New York Times which exposes that *gasp* retired generals who appear on our news programs know people at the Pentagon;

To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.

Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.

NYT quotes some analysts who feel they were manipulated by the Pentagon but then there are others;

The Pentagon defended its relationship with military analysts, saying they had been given only factual information about the war. “The intent and purpose of this is nothing other than an earnest attempt to inform the American people,” Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman, said.

It was, Mr. Whitman added, “a bit incredible” to think retired military officers could be “wound up” and turned into “puppets of the Defense Department.”

Many analysts strongly denied that they had either been co-opted or had allowed outside business interests to affect their on-air comments, and some have used their platforms to criticize the conduct of the war.

I suppose the New York Times would prefer that these experts on military policy would be removed from the events they’re explaining to us giving us dated opinions separated from actual facts. Goldfarb summarizes;

The piece goes on for some ten pages, with one damning revelation after the next.The Pentagon distributes talking points, provides special access to retired generals, and even arranged a meeting for them with the Secretary of Defense. You’ll also be very surprised to learn that many retired generals have business interests in the defense industry.

Next they’ll be reporting that our troops are actually required to use real bullets in firefights with the enemy.

Category: Media