The Media

I might call it "The Medium", since it's essentially all about channeling he White House/Pentagon spokesmodels, and not much about disseminating information.

Anyway...

Balloon Juice:

[...]

The American Civil Liberties Union released the memo and other FBI documents it obtained from the government under court order through the Freedom of Information Act.

"Personally, he has nothing against the United States. The guards in the detention facility do not treat him well. Their behavior is bad. About five months ago, the guards beat the detainees. They flushed a Koran in the toilet," the FBI agent wrote.

"It's not credible," chief Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said of the allegation regarding a Koran in a toilet.

I guess that means we need a talking points update:

1.) Newsweek Lied, People Died!

2.) The media hates the military.
3.) Why are they using anonymous sources?
4.) 1.) Why is the media recycling old stories?
5.) 2.) You can't trust those terrorists.
6.) 3.) Even if it is true, you shouldn't publish it- we are at war.
7.) 4.) You can't trust Newsweek and the Washington Post Reuters.
5.) What about the children?

The Poor Man:

This whole Newsweek saga has been idiotic, and I have limited my comment to the minimum required by the blogging bylaws because, like the Downing Street memo, it’s essentially old news. The idiotic details are, of course, unique to this case - the accusation (that Afghans hold off until the Pentagon conducts an investigation before they believe something is true) was slightly more preposterous than usual, the close-harmony talking points choir changed keys a bit more awkwardly - but it was a pretty typical example of “slime and defend” run by the usual suspects. I don’t get too worked up about it anymore for the same reason I don’t get excited every time the Sun* rises in the morning - eventually even the daily appearance of a unimaginably huge, ancient, and enduring nuclear inferno- this most awe-inspiring spectacle of Nature’s majesty and power - becomes, after being repeated every day for a few billion years, mundane.

Also from The Poor Man, on media balance:

There is a natural tendency to think that all opinions have some validity, and, by carefully plotting a conservative course somewhere between two representative arguments, you can make a serviceable approximation to something you could call “truth”. This is an admirable impulse, and often a constructive one, except if one (or both) of the positions is horseshit. Then, you’re fucked.