US war coverage

Interesting feature on Channel 4 news this evening about the war coverage by the major US networks. Apparantly the viewers of Fox News were so confused by that channel's coverage that 30% of viewers actually thought that WMDs had been discovered in Iraq.

It's been clear for some time that the US networks have just unquestioningly supported the march towards war, and now that questions are being asked about validity of the reasons for invading Iraq the issue has got to be raised as to why the US TV networks weren't there and asking the right questions when it mattered.

It seems to me to be another clear sign of the excessively deferrential stance the US media takes with the Administration. Support the country after 9/11, certainly, but when it comes to war, a probing, investigative and critical eye is required to ensure that the direction of a government is the right one. In this the US media has failed, and the editorial line taken must surely be questioned.