> You're suggesting they knew the premises were false at the time. They very likely did not know that at the time; nor did any of the major media outlets.
There I have to disagree. Strongly. At the outset of of the Iraq war it was already clear to anyone working in journalism that Reuters and AP Newswire had an unhealthy grip on the news industry. As an outsider it was clear simply by observing that _every_ news source was beating the same drum and pushing the same talking points.
I remember pretty well the build up - my daughter was 1.5 years old and my life at the time was work, changing nappies, and listening to the news. The Economist was one of the last newspapers to chime in on Iraq, and I had hopes they’d at least take a neutral, objective position. Instead they got onboard selling the war, presumably because they were afraid of the consequences of failing to do so - remember Bush declared “you’re either with us or against us”.
The Economist actually played a key role ... basically the final nail in the coffin in bringing the intelligentsia onboard with way where only Germany (Schröder) stood against.
Anyway that’s all in the past. But I won’t be subscribing to the Economist any time soon
There I have to disagree. Strongly. At the outset of of the Iraq war it was already clear to anyone working in journalism that Reuters and AP Newswire had an unhealthy grip on the news industry. As an outsider it was clear simply by observing that _every_ news source was beating the same drum and pushing the same talking points.
I remember pretty well the build up - my daughter was 1.5 years old and my life at the time was work, changing nappies, and listening to the news. The Economist was one of the last newspapers to chime in on Iraq, and I had hopes they’d at least take a neutral, objective position. Instead they got onboard selling the war, presumably because they were afraid of the consequences of failing to do so - remember Bush declared “you’re either with us or against us”.
The Economist actually played a key role ... basically the final nail in the coffin in bringing the intelligentsia onboard with way where only Germany (Schröder) stood against.
Anyway that’s all in the past. But I won’t be subscribing to the Economist any time soon