39 days since NYT exposed Pentagon's domestic TV propaganda program using retired generals...

NEW YORK The massive New York Times probe 10 days ago about retired military officers, prepped by the Pentagon, who served as influential television commentators since the runup to the Iraq war -- and also have conflicting ties to defense contractors -- has sparked a serious backlash among many journalists, such as Howard Kurtz, and others since it ran a week and a half ago.

But one group has remained largely silent: the television networks themselves.

Despite an avalanche of criticism throughout the blogosphere, and by a handful of journalism veterans and critics, the news chiefs and on-air hosts at CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC, and CBS, have had little reaction to the revelations concerning the "Media Generals."

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For Don North, a veteran television journalist and now a freelance filmmaker whose experience dates back to covering the Vietnam War, questionable dealings by retired generals are not a surprise. "I gave up trusting what generals had to say a long time ago," says North, whose past work included stints at ABC and NBC. "Gen. Westmoreland gave me cause to do that a long time ago."

As for the television networks' lack of response, North says: "I am not surprised that the network executives, the suits there, have not been rushing to justify themselves. It is their nature to shut the hell up and hope it will blow over."

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Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com weighed in this morning (April 30, 2008), once again, writing: "It has now been more than ten days since the New York Times exposed the Pentagon's domestic propaganda program involving retired generals and, still, not a single major news network has even mentioned the story to their viewers, let alone responded to the numerous questions surrounding their own behavior.

"This steadfast blackout occurs despite the fact that the Pentagon propaganda program almost certainly violates numerous federal laws; both Democratic presidential candidates sternly denounced the Pentagon's conduct; and Congressional inquiries are already underway, all of which forced the Pentagon to announce that it suspended its program....

"Just consider what is going on here. The core credibility of war reporting by Brian Williams and NBC News has been severely undermined by a major NYT expose. That story involves likely illegal behavior by the Pentagon, in which NBC News appears to have been complicit, resulting in the deceitful presentation of highly biased and conflicted individuals as 'independent' news analysts. Yet they refuse to tell their viewers about any of this, and refuse to address any of the questions that have been raised."

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