Nathaniel Polster writes from Chicago;

First, congratulations and more congratulations on your persistent criticizing of the mainstream press. The antique periodicals from the Cojlumbia and Maryland University Journalism schools are, b osmosis, not intelligence, picking up some of your lines of criticism. I see, too, spurts of defensiveness in the mainstream, certainly inspired by Schechter.

I still think you are the outstanding leader in press criticism and think you, yourself, are doing a superb job. I wish I could catch some of your movie and video work in Chicago. It takes doing. It doesn’t come easily Congratulations and good luck in your travels and hellraising.

Nathaniel, you are a brilliant editor. Write to us about the Chicago media. We’ll post it.

LETTER TO REUTERS

Brad Collins writes “For the first time, I wrote Reuters regarding a story I read this morning. I just wish to share it. Thank You

“In your article today, 02/28/2005 re: the suicide car bomb attack of huge proportion, you stated

“The toll makes the blast the single deadliest attack since the fall of Saddam in April 2003, and Monday one of the bloodiest days of the two-year insurgency.”

“How about “Since the United States unprovoked invasion of Iraq. ” Are you guys in Bush’s back pocket like Fox news? Have you totally lost perspective of what’s going on over there. If we had not invaded, there wouldn’t be an insurgency blowing people up. That’s like blaming the baseball bat for causing the headache and not the person who swung it.

“The administration has lost credibility, our government has lost credibility and the news media is loosing credibility. The fourth estate is becoming the Dubya estate. When the hell is someone going to have the guts and stand up and print what is really happening?

Susan Oehler writes from Ashville:

“I was thinking today…. I work as a pediatric audiologist, and if I went into a room full of pediatric audiologists, I would know within five minutes if the person sitting next to me was not an audiologist. It would be very easy to figure out, I would think. What is wrong with those “reporters” in the White House Press room that they cannot uncover a fake journalist working for a fake news agency with fake credentials?

“And it is amazing to contrast this with the Lewinsky nonsense…. then, we had a real intern acting like a unpaid whore in the White House….. now we have a fake journalist who is a real whore in the White House….. yep, I’m waiting for the blue-stained shirt.

“I have another question: if C-SPAN is showing the US Senate, and Cheney tells someone to go Cheney themselves, are they really going to fine C-SPAN??? just wondering…”

Esti writes from the UWS: “I saw you on International correspondents, a program I try to watch regularly. You were good.”

Salle Engelhardt, MPA is in Boston:

Hello Mr. S, (I say in my finest Beantown accent–mistah “S”). I remember you from your days at WBCN, you made a profound impression on me then and I am glad to see that you are still going strong.

I wonder if you have heard of Dahr Jamail. I heard an interview with him on my local publicly sponsored “free radio” station this past week and was convinced that I was not wrong about what I believe to be taking place in our “war of choice” in Iraq. He has a web site that is right in line with your new movie, which I plan to actively promote in my small burg. I can’t remember the URL, you can “Google” his name and find it easily. (Dahr is a friend. I have run his reporting.)

I also heard about a book, today; “The Sociopath Next Door” and I believe that “W” fits that description, which answers a lot of “…why does he…” and “How does he get away with…” questions. The problem is, there is a whole gang of them in the halls of government now and that’s the scariest part. These people are incapable of felling remorse–they cannot admit to error either. And they like to make people jump for the thrill of it, sounds like our DC crowd, eh?

Thanks for “being there” with the truth.

IF YOU LIVE IN ITALY

Check out the website of yesterday’s Il Manifesto newspaper for my testimony to the World Tribunal on Iraq:

“Ci sono state due guerre in Iraq. Una è stata combattuta dagli eserciti con i loro soldati, le bombe e la loro temibile forza militare, l’altra invece con le telecamere, i satelliti, i giornalisti e le tecniche di propaganda. La prima è stata giustificata col tentativo di trovare le «armi di distruzione di massa» di Saddam Hussein, la seconda è stata combattuta con armi ancora più potenti, le «armi di disinformazione di massa». Durante l’invasione del’Iraq nel marzo 2003, in America le reti televisive hanno visto nell’informazione non-stop il loro momento migliore, puntando sui giornalisti embedded e sulle nuove tecnologie che avrebbero permesso ai telespettatori di vedere per la prima volta una guerra da vicino. Ma diversi paesi hanno visto guerre diverse.”

IF YOU LIVE IN DC

This week, the Center for American Progress kicks off its new monthly progressive film series, “Reel Progress,” with a screening on Wednesday of “WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception,” a film by (ABC News) journalist-turned-media-critic Danny Schechter, focusing on how round-the-clock coverage of the war in Iraq affected what the press did and does, and how it does it. The screening, which features a discussion with Schechter, Dr. Steven Krull of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy, and Center for American Progress senior fellows Eric Alterman and Mark Lloyd, is at the Center’s office on H Street from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm ET.”

More information:
http://www.kintera.org/htmlcontent.asp?cid=43038

New on Canada’s Coldtype.net: Why the mainstream media are losing the credibility battle against the new internet alternatives, by Bill Bowles in London.” … If you are interested in propaganda tracking, visit spinwatch.org, a site based in Scotland.

Thanks for being here. Back tomorrow. Write: dissector@mediachannel.org