US Media scandal

LONDON – A civil servant has been charged under Britain's Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking a government memo that a newspaper said today suggested that Prime Minister Tony Blair persuaded President Bush not to bomb the Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera.
The Daily Mirror reported that Bush spoke of targeting Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Doha, Qatar, when he met Blair at the White House on April 16, 2004. The Bush administration has regularly accused Al-Jazeera of being nothing more than a mouthpiece for anti-American sentiments. (Story as syndicated by AP)

This is an important story, by any measure. It suggests a willingness by the US administration to bomb innocent people to achieve its ends.
Yet a survey of Google news (using search terms Bush Blair – and/or Al Jazeera) threw up over 300 stories just in the ‘all related>’ section.
Of those stories just 16 were 15 were from US media outlets (see below).

‘…bomb innocent people to achieve its ends.” Does that phrase sound familiar? It is the claim the media regularly use to justify this so called war on terrorism. Yes, a description of those lunatics we call terrorists.
Is that the level Bush aspires to? Is that how the American people want to be known?

A look around the blogs, trying to get a handle on the US attitude to this event was a real eye opener. The general trend, summed up by the comments of one avowed ‘liberal’: “I don’t have much time for Al Jazeera. They promote terrorism.”

How in God’s name would any American, kept in the dark, ‘the mushroom club’, promoted by the scandalously selective reportage of the US media, know the truth?
All you know about Al Jazeera, about terrorism, about any of those ‘fear’ issues which rule your life is what comes 'filtered' through your 'sanctioned' media.

It was a standing joke, in the rest of the world, that US media not only avoided reporting casualties during the Iraq war, they also acceded to the administrations desire that flag draped coffins, arriving at US airports, should not be photographed. I shudder to think that the American people actually endorse this officially sanctioned ignorance.

Al Jazeera, like the New York Times and Washington Post, harbour zealots and misguided staff. You can’t tell me that the games being exposed in the Plame Affair display a laudable media, intent on honest and informative reportage.

In Qatar, as in New York and Washington, those media offices house many ordinary people, simply striving to do their job in a professional way as possible. They are decent people with families, not raving lunatics.

Google News: Bush/Blair search

The 16 US media reports.
Al Jazeera wants bomb memo explanationBoston Globe, United States - 23 hours ago
British paper: Bush wanted to bomb Al JazeeraChristian Science Monitor, MA - 23 Nov 2005
Britain seeks to protect memoWashington Times, DC - 23 Nov 2005
Did Blair persuade Bush not to bomb Al-Jazeera?Seattle Times, United States - 22 Nov 2005
Did Bush Want Al Jazeera Bombed?CBS News - 22 Nov 2005
London Bureau Chief Responds to Report of Memo Alleging Bush ...Bay Area Indymedia, CA - 23 Nov 2005
British newspaper: Bush spoke to Blair of bombing Arab TV network ...Helena Independent Record, MT - 23 Nov 2005
Bush, Blair should set record straight on leaked Al-Jazeera threatCPJ Press Freedom Online, NY - 23 Nov 2005
Bush Targets Al Jazeera? CNN Head Should Get Job BackProgressive.org, WI - 23 Nov 2005
Report: Blair halted Bush planColumbia Daily Tribune, MO - 23 Nov 2005
British lawmaker calls for publication of document alleging Bush ...WTNH, CT - 22 hours ago
Lawmaker urges release of bombing documentNews & Observer, NC - 22 hours ago
Beyond That Memo: Bush Wanted al Jazeera GoneNYC Independent Media Center, NY - 24 Nov 2005
Britain Blocks Press On Bush-Blair MemoHartford Courant, United States - 24 Nov 2005
Britain threatens newspapers with prosecution if leaked memo is ...Austin American-Statesman (subscription), TX - 23 Nov 2005