One of the major weaknesses of journalism today is how easily some are seduced by power. The premier role of the journalist should be as a check on power, however, many seem to turn this dictum on its head and get greater job satisfaction as parrots of the official truth.
Issues surrounding Northern Ireland have provided a good example of how easily journalists become seduced by power. The propaganda model as set out at the outset of the conflict in 1968 of two feuding tribes has rarely been challenged by journalists. The British forces have been portrayed as peacekeepers in the middle keeping the two sides apart. A caveat within the model is that the Catholic Republicans in the shape of the IRA are the real cause of the problem and the enemy to be defeated. This approach has been sustained for the past 35 years. Even since the signing of the peace process Loyalist violence has never been given the same volume of coverage as Republican violence. There has for instance been little coverage in British papers of the ongoing low intensity war conducted against the Catholic population since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998. This warped set of news values has tended to skew the picture, particularly for the audience in Britain.
A good example of the ability of some in the British media to be seduced by power came with the whole Hutton report fiasco. In Lord Brian Hutton came the fusing together of the British establishment and Northern Ireland in one man. Yet at the time when Hutton was coming to the end of hearing the evidence, many in the British media saw him as a just man, listening and making intelligent interjections. An example of how easily journalists were taken in came with the Guardian's Simon Hoggart. Writing in the newspapers diary as the evidentiary element of the Hutton inquiry was coming to an end, Hoggart went into some detail as to why Dr David Kelly could not have been murdered. Justifying the depth of his analysis Hoggart stated "I mention this only because the Internet mill, favoured by Michael Meacher in his researches into 9/11, will no doubt grind out more conspiracy theories." Hoggart continued confirming his touching relationship with power describing Lord Hutton's "soft educated almost beguiling Ulster accent." In these few words Hoggart proved himself to be completely taken in by the establishment figure whilst dismissing anyone, like ex-environment minister Meacher, who might suggest the whole train of events that led to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan dovetailed nicely with the foreign policy aims of President George Bush. Ofcourse Hoggart and many of his lobby journalist frends were subsequently made to look rather stupid by the one time Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland and Diplock Court judge when he finally delivered his whitewash report.
By way of contrast the views expressed by Meacher as to the way the whole 9/11 scenario and what followed so easily fitted with the Bush gang's agenda is anything but conspiratorial. His crime for establishment journalists like Hoggart was in putting together the various pieces of information to come up with a credible rationale for what has happened over the past two years. The fact that the account seems so incredible is reflective of how poorly others in the media have done their jobs in terms of informing the public.
Meacher is not the first to raise questions regarding the sequence of events post 9/11. Journalist John Pilger, academic Noam Chomsky and documentary maker and author Michael Moore have consistently exposed the truth and put the sequence of events of the past two years in context. Another American writer to cast doubt has been former confidante of President John F Kennedy Gore Vidal. Vidal has long since suggested that George W Bush will be impeached for his handling of 9/11 and events thereafter. In his excellent book, Dreaming War, Vidal continues to ask crucial questions that until recently have been swept under the carpet. He quotes at some length from retired US army veteran Stan Goff, who taught Military Science and Doctrine at West Point.
Goff is astonished that people are not asking questions about the actions of Bush and company on the day of the attacks. As some will remember Bush went to a school on that day to talk to the children. In the US there is a standard order of procedure that once a plane has deviated from its flight plan fighter planes are sent up to find out why. "The planes are all hijacked between 7.45 and 8.10 AM Eastern Daylight Time. Who is notified? This is an event already that is unprecedented. But the president is not notified and going to a Florida elementary school to hear children read," says Goff. "By around 8.15 AM it should be very apparent that something is terribly wrong. The President is glad handing teachers. By 8.45 when American Airlines Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Centre, Bush is settling in with children for his photo ops at Booker Elementary. Four planes have obviously been hijacked simultaneously, an event never before seen in history, and one has just dived into the world's best known twin towers, and still no-one notifies the nominal Commander in Chief."
At 9.03 the second plane crashes into the World Trade Center, Bush is told but continues with his school visit. Some 25 minutes later Bush tells the public what they know already namely, that there has been an attack by hijack planes on the World Trade Center. At this time there is an airliner heading for Washington but still no fighter planes have been scrambled.
At 9.35 one of the hijacked planes does a 360 degree turn over the Pentagon, all the while being tracked by radar. "The Pentagon is not evacuated, and there are still no fast movers from the Air Force in the sky over Alexandria and DC," says Goff.
This is the staggering story of the events of 9/11. No reasons have been given for the Bush Administration's conduct on that day, no one has been brought to account. Yet from the tragedy that was 9/11 Bush has been able to deliver for his backers in the arms and oil industries. The President has also been able to portray himself as a wartime leader. This is the real story that journalists should be probing at and uncovering, especially in an election year.
Other untold stories from around the time of 9/11 concern the failure of Bush to sanitise the area around the twin towers and the fate of many heroic Irish American firefighters. After a recent visit to New York journalist Mike Marquesee told of how when the World Trade Center was hit the shoddy materials used to build the structure back in the 1970s were spread far and wide. These materials included asbestos and other lethal substances. Rather than close down the area, where much of US business dwells, the Bush administration preferred instead to keep quiet and risk public health. The result of this piece of negligence will become apparent in future years.
As for the heroic firefighters who risked and in many cases lost their lives trying to save people from the twin towers building. Well due to budgetary cuts many are now being laid off. Some reward for heroes.
It is difficult not to believe that the way in which the media has reported Northern Ireland over the years from the government angle has not infected other elements of journalism. The desire to accept the official version of events while failing to look elsewhere results in sloppy journalism and a failure to report the truth. So to some degree it can be argued that the failure to probe the truth of 9/11 in this country could have its antecedents in the model of reporting that has resulted out of Northern Ireland.
The task of the journalist is to uncover the truth not carry favour with the powerful. As the famous war journalist James Cameron said only believe it when it has been officially denied. In the case of media coverage of Northern Ireland and 9/11 the public has got a distinctly sanitised version of events. Rather than follow Cameron's advice in both reporting Northern Ireland and 9/11 the majority of journalists prefer instead to stand the dictum on its head only believing things when they are officially confirmed. This approach results in reporting only of the official truth which in many cases amounts to a tissue of lies.
