The New York Times‘ David Barstow won a richly deserved Pulitzer Prize yesterday for two articles completely suppressed by virtually every network and cable news show, which to this day have never informed their viewers about what Barstow uncovered. Here is how the Pulitzer Committee described Barstow’s exposés: that, despite being featured as major news stories on the front page of The Paper of Record, were
Awarded to David Barstow of The New York Times for his tenacious reporting that revealed how some retired generals, working as radio and television analysts, had been co-opted by the Pentagon to make its case for the war in Iraq, and how many of them also had undisclosed ties to companies that benefited from policies they defended.
By whom were these “ties to companies” undisclosed and for whom didthese deeply conflicted retired generals pose as “analysts”? ABC, CBS,NBC, MSNBC, CNN and Fox — the very companies that have simplysuppressed the story from their viewers. They kept completely silentabout Barstow’s story even though it sparked Congressional inquiries, vehement objections from the then-leading Democratic presidential candidates, and allegations that the Pentagon program violated legal prohibitions on domestic propaganda programs.
The Pentagon’s secret collaboration with these “independent analysts” shaped multiple news stories from each of these outlets on a variety of critical topics. Most amazingly, many of them continue to employas so-called “independent analysts” the very retired generals at theheart of Barstow’s story, yet still refuse to inform their viewersabout any part of this story.