The Bulletin is worth a look today if only to read Phillip Knightley's excellent hatchet job on the Pentagon's successful spinning of the war in Iraq.
Did you know that the Pentagon deliberately bombed the BBC and Al-Jezeera offices in Kabul due to their negative coverage or links to the Taliban? That's what Knightley claims.
Knightley gives Murdoch's Fox News, Donald Rumsfield's favourite station, a big spray for blatant bias and claims CNN has a $212 million budget for the war alone but its front line reports are censored back in Atlanta before going to air.
He chronicles the spin so far and argues that embedded journalists receive privileges that colour their reporting.
And he finishes as follows: "My assessment of these early days is that the Pentagon is winning hands down. Its plan for "Managing the media in the war against Iraq" is up and running and aiming for tightly controlled, patriotic reporting of a "clean" war with minimum casualties - no matter what really happens."
Read Knightley's full analysis at: http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/bulletin/eddesk.nsf/All/029723052893E61FCA256CEB0079B0AC!open
