Comments on: Unethical Practices by Ex-General and NBC News

By: Seth Finkelstein

Seth Finkelstein — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:43:10 +0000

Jon, my concern is that the way the “disclosure” issue is framed, it often turns into an arcane formula bereft of substance to the average person.

That’s why it’s so funny they brought up the website. Even the most detailed disclosure description on a website would only be seen by a tiny fraction of the audience, and good luck figuring out what it means.

By: Jon Garfunkel

Jon Garfunkel — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 05:46:22 +0000

Seth, in all seriousness, mccaffreyassociates.com posted a lengthy response to the NYT article, but neglected to list all clients and contacts, so it’s very difficult for the average person to judge.

By: Seth Finkelstein

Seth Finkelstein — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 16:39:20 +0000

“indirectly disclosed through NBC’s Web site”

Hilarious!

What the General should do is proclaim that he is a citizen journalist, and it’s a brave new world where the strictures of the curmudgeon dinosaur priests no longer apply. It’s up to YOU-YES-YOU to decide whether he’s trustworthy, and the reader is just going to have to make up his or her own mind in the New Media world instead of relying on – gasp – gatekeepers to enforce their antediluvian concepts how things should work.

[This is sarcasm, in case anyone takes it seriously]

By: Jon Garfunkel

Jon Garfunkel — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 04:13:42 +0000

We should push for a template for media websites to use to list reports, experts, sources. Looking at Media Matters, SourceWatch, FactCheck, I don’t see anyone is pushing for this.

By: Rita J. King

Rita J. King — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 03:09:44 +0000

Thanks for posting this, Dan. I’ve been following you on Twitter (I tweet as eurekadejavu). We met briefly last December after my panel at the Global Knowledge Partnership in Kuala Lumpur.

Welcome to the *new* military-media-industrial complex, Spencer Ackerman writes?

I wrote “Big, Easy Money: Disaster Profiteering on the American Gulf Coast,” in 2006, and it was the third in an investigative series that explored war profiteering in Afghanistan and Iraq. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=14004.

I wonder if they’ve assigned a journalist to cover the bailout yet as the fourth in the installment.

By: Dan Gillmor

Dan Gillmor — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:29:18 +0000

Jon, you bet this should be on the agenda of transparency advocates. It’s shameful to see media behaving this way.

By: Jon Garfunkel

Jon Garfunkel — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 00:42:31 +0000

Dan, Bingo. "NBC executives asserted that the general’s relationships with military contractors are indirectly disclosed through NBC’s Web site, where General McCaffrey’s biography now features a link to his consulting firm’s Web site." There is indeed a biography web page off of this pagethis page listing their 8 contributing experts, but I can't find how it is linked from the MSNBC or Nightly News home pages. CBS News lists all correspondents, anchors, and executive producers, but I can't find a listing of their consultants. The article points out that James A. Marks is a CNN military analyst. But I can't find any bio of him on their site, or any bio page whatsoever (CNN does list anchors & reporters). Shouldn't media transparency advocates push for this to be a higher priority by the networks?

By: Robert Holman

Robert Holman — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 23:46:10 +0000

This is an outrage of gigantic proportions given the financial and human costs of this tragedy. There are are clearly those who profit from war, but to hide the conflicts of interest behind so-called independent news and for “what’s good for the country” mantra only makes it more sickening. This arm-chair general is nothing more than a war profiteer who could care less what the consequences are so long as he makes a buck.
What kind of country do we live in anyway to continuously allow this lie to go on?