‘[Y]ou know you’re being used, but in a way you kind of like it’

June 20, 2006

The Bush White House has every reason to expect the press to fall for the same publicity stunts over and over again because they always work. The president takes part in a choreographed event so it’ll look good on TV, and TV news outlets never fail to disappoint.

Ever wonder why sophisticated journalists who know the difference between real news and a photo-op play along with this game? Gloria Borger explained it for us on CNN the other day.

During the June 18 edition of CNN’s Reliable Sources, Gloria Borger, a CBS News contributor and U.S. News & World Report contributing editor, acknowledged that the media “are suckers” because of their coverage of President Bush’s surprise June 13 trip to Iraq. Adding that “[w]e do like these secret trips,” Borger concluded: “[Y]ou know you’re being used, but in a way you kind of like it because it’s good pictures.” During the segment, photographs of President Bush walking into Air Force One, riding in its cockpit, and walking with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki appeared on screen.

To be fair, this isn’t exactly a new phenomenon. Since cameras became a journalistic tool, presidents have tried to maximize the political benefit of good pictures.

That said, the Bush gang has mastered the art and has taken to choreographing every detail for optimum advantage. The White House, for example, has a habit of telling reporters that the president will deliver a “major speech” on Iraq, and encourage outlets to treat it as a big deal. Reporters dutifully play along and the networks offer blanket coverage — even though the “major speech” always turns out to be the exact same boilerplate rhetoric as the last 10 “major speeches.”

So why would journalists allow themselves to be used, repeatedly, for public relations purposes? Because, as Borger put it, “[Y]ou kind of like it because it’s good pictures.” It’s a helpful admission.

The “bully pulpit” in the hands of a bully is an ugly thing to behold.

  • Too many Americans, especially those in the so-called fourth estate, prefer to be treated like mushrooms: fed horseshit and kept in the dark.

    At the top of the front page of today’s Detroit Free Press, in large red ink letters, is this headline: “Local fans party with reality-TV stars”. Since when is “reality-TV” creating “stars” that ordinary Americans want to “party” with? Truly sad, that too many of us care more about American Idol (and all of the other shit that passes for TV fare) than care about voting for our Congress and our President; forget about whether those elections have been stolen, or that far too many voters have been illegally denied their franchise, or that the bastards in office are taking away our rights and our freedoms.

    But hey, the first American Idol winner — I know it is a female, but I’ll be damned if I even know her name — has sold over 3 million copies of her latest CD. I still don’t know any of the “judges” except Paula Abdul….

    But hey, I CAN name ALL five rights (quaintly) guaranteed by the First Amendment, AND I can name ALL ten of the Ten Commandments. What does that get me? A free trip to Gitmo to be tortured, and then a place in Heaven, I guess….

  • It’s time we as a society should seriously question whether the profit-driven media fosters values in delivering the news and information that ultimately harms us in the long run. It’s one aspect of the MSM vs. bloggers debate that I haven’t really seen mentioned too much – but corporate ratings-driven news that functions for profit (as opposed to the bad old days when network news was driven more by a desire for prestige and respect than profit) is always going to more attracted to glitter than substance. Bloggers don’t have the resources that the MSM have, but they also don’t have the distraction and skewed values of the need for “good pictures” either.

  • I knew a guy in college (note I didn’t say he was a “friend”) who was a journalism major. There was one week where several horrible things had happened – I don’t remember what they were but I believe one of them was the Pan Am flight exploding over Scotland. The others were pretty bad too. He said “It’s a great week for news!” with a big smile on his face.

    He’s probably in the White House press corps as we speak.

  • I am beginning to believe that its not just about “good pictures.” I think that it has become more of a contest among the various TV networks as to which one will attract more attention, more viewers. As the vehicles for the dissemination of the news becomes more diverse, the “major” TV outlets, (CNN, Fox, MSNBC, etc.) must compete for market share.

    In other words, it has become a contest as to which network can “out spin” the rest. As with all corporations, they have their own brand to sell. If integrity gets lost in the shuffle, tough luck. Market share and the bottom line are now the motivating factors which guide our news media.

    That is why they are ready to jump on the bandwagon whenever Bush is to give a “major” address. Even though they probably know they are being snookered, they don’t care. If being snookered means that they stay one step ahead of the competition, they are ready to fall in line.

    The “news” is incidental to their goals. Their main product is selling their brand and they will do whatever it takes to beat out the competition.

  • Boy George II in China trying to get out locked doors.

    They do not always get what they want.

  • I finally saw “Good Night, and Good Luck” the other night. Toward the end of the movie, after terminating Senator Joe McCarthy at long last, Ed Murrow predicts it all: his important show reduced to Sunday afternoon entertainment, trashing news staffs since they’re not cost-efficient, slaving for ratings (i.e., the lowest common denominator), etc.

  • This is like the Titanic disaster of 1912. But this time, all the folks getting on the doomed liner KNOW that they’re getting on a doomed liner. Every time someone tries to convince that that they’re steaming to a frigid grave in the Atlantic, they reply—“I know…but it’s the TITANIC.”

    I know it’ll never happen…but wouldn’t it be just grand if, once the tide turns and the clowns are out of power, the new administration simply declared all these MSM kiss-ups to be “irrelevant”—and brought in a completely fresh crop of REAL JOURNALISTS?

  • “You know you’re being used, but in a way you kind of like it because it’s good pictures.”

    Thank you Linda Lovelace.

  • Blushingly admitting she’s seduced by power and privilege blows Borger’s credibility as a reporter. Reporters are essentially cops on a beat. If the cops are getting seduced by the criminals, they let the criminals run around unabated. When reporters like Borger lose their teeth, the news organizations should demote them and let someone who’s a bit hungrier get the post.

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