A VIEW FROM HERE
by deb weiss

Singing The Praises Of Government News
August 9, 1999


Maybe it's just me, but I couldn't help feeling some slight, uneasy sense of irony -- or maybe just what 19th century literary types used to call a "shock of recognition" -- as I glanced over yesterday's news.

On the one hand, there was the Clinton administration's escalating attack on that pallid tax-cut the poor old GOP has trotted out in hopes of scoring some points with its grumbling, crumbling base.

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Alarms keened and thundered from every front page and chat show in town as Clinton spinners fanned out to throw plenty of kerosene on all available brush-fires.

They warned that these modest Republican proposals were a menace to Social Security surpluses, interest rates, and veterans' benefits, not to mention farmers, women, children, teachers, doctors, the lame, the halt, the blind, the chronically-worried, small furry animals, and -- as my old friend Terry used to say -- the entire brass section of the dance-band at the Waldorf-Astoria.

On the other hand, there was an odd and ominous item from the Associated Press, tucked in almost as an afterthought amongst back-page stories about strange weather patterns and whimsical animals.

"Government Unit to Control Flow of US News," read the headline over a story about the formation of the "International Public Information" group, or IPI -- a bland, characterless name, strikingly reminiscent, it must be said, of the bad old days of CIA covert operations.

"The Clinton administration," wrote the AP reporter, somewhat breathlessly, "dismayed by the success of anti-American propaganda worldwide, is striking back with an information offensive of its own: a State Department unit that will control the flow of government news overseas, especially during crises."

Putting aside the unsettling implications of the phrase "government news," it's worth noting that American reporters almost always say 'striking back,' or 'fighting back,' when describing the latest political blitzkrieg by the Clinton administration, whether it's aimed at a bimbo eruption, a right-wing critic, or a foreign power.

The game is to convey an image of courage under fire: the gritty little guys at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue bravely taking on formidable adversaries against all odds. Reading such Orwellian constructions, you almost forget for a moment that the guys at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ARE the formidable adversaries.

The IPI will, so we're told, "coordinate the dissemination of news from the State Department, Pentagon and other U.S. agencies," to prevent complexities or apparent contradictions in reportage. The real point, of course, is to head off another Kosovan meltdown.

Though it was supposed to be a triumph, Kosovo became, in the end, quite a headache for the White House. Substantial public doubt seeped in around the edges of their ceaseless flow of official information, despite the almost universal willingness of American establishment journalists to reproduce said official information whole, intact, and unchallenged (providing an American moment such as we haven't seen, probably, since 1918).

The people simply didn't like this war. Their instincts were reinforced by troubling reports from Europe, available via the internet, that contradicted our glorious network narratives of bombs and body counts.

Most American reporters (there were some standouts) accepted each crumb from Madame Albright's hand with all the skepticism and analytical skill of hungry beagles. They did more stories on the wit and charm of Nato spokesman Jamie Shea than they ever did on the dubious atrocity statistics Mr. Shea pumped out daily.

By contrast, a surprising number of European newsmen churlishly violated all the rules of modern American journalistic etiquette by skipping off to Kosovo, and seeing things with their own eyes, and writing about them.

No fair, really: not at all cricket. Not the way American reporters play the game. Indeed, Mr. Clinton is reported to have barked an angry command at British Prime Minister Tony Blair (after a week of particularly savage Kosovo coverage by the London press) that he get his journalists on board, the way ours are here at home.

Presumably, the IPI will help get everyone on board. The Clinton administration would very much like to see its foreign adventures reported by journalists around the world the way its domestic adventures are by journalists around the Beltway. Toward that end, it's investing a great deal of time, effort, and taxpayers' money.

Which brings us back to tax cuts. And starving children. And wretched grannies, impoverished by prescription drug costs. And hospitals forced to close their doors. And -- well, you get the picture, don't you?

You certainly should. It's the only picture on the screen.

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A VIEW FROM HERE archive

The First Couple's Chamber Pot -- August 5, 1999

Lifetime's Woman of the Year -- August 2, 1999

Thinking Over This Tax Cut Thing -- July 29, 1999

The John John Show -- July 26, 1999

America's One China, Two Alka Seltzer Policy -- July 22, 1999

The Politics of Speaking Ill of the Dead -- July 19, 1999

The Nasty Legacy -- July 15, 1999

All in a Slow News Week... -- July 12, 1999

Traps For The Young -- July 8, 1999

Remembering Michael Dukakis -- July 5, 1999

R.I.P., O.I.C. -- July 1, 1999

Mr. Clinton's Post-War Vengeance -- June 28, 1999

Guns, Cuisinarts and the Bill of Rights -- June 24, 1999

Attack of the Concerned Advocates -- June 21, 1999

FTC Nation -- June 17, 1999

The Very, Very Coincidental World of Bill and Hillary Clinton -- June 14, 1999

Water-boiling in Our Time -- June 10, 1999

Crisis and Peace -- June 7, 1999

Reinventing God -- June 3, 1999

On This Memorial Day -- May 31, 1999

The Un-McCarthy Era -- May 27, 1999

Unspeakable Spin -- May 25, 1999