by Greg MitchellFrom the publisher:
It is often said that a free press is the watchdog of democracy, insuring that the conduct of our leaders is examined with a critical eye. This makes Greg Mitchell the watchdog of watchdogs, as tracking the performance of the media is his beat at Editor & Publisher, the influential magazine of the newspaper industry. Over the past five years, his weekly column “Pressing Issues,” has intensely scrutinized the coverage of the Iraq war, the media’s views of the credibility of the Bush Administration, and such related topics as 9/11, the war in Afghanistan, and the CIA Leak Case. Now, as the war in Iraq reaches its 5th anniversary, this first-ever collection, with more than 75 of Mitchell’s columns, provides a unique history of the conflict, from the hyped WMD stories to the “surge.”
Back in 2003, Mitchell was one of the few mainstream journalists to question the grounds for war. Today, Mitchell looks ahead at lessons for the future with an original introduction and connecting material that updates and unifies his original essays. From prescient early columns warning of a long, bloody war to Stephen Colbert’s in-his-face mockery of President Bush to a piece titled “No Pat Answers in the Tillman Case,” this book will appeal to press critics, bloggers, media professionals, teachers, students, and everyone concerned with how we got into Iraq and why we can’t seem to get out. With more than 160,000 American troops still fighting there, debate over the war continues to rage on news and editorial pages from big city dailies to weekly papers in small towns. Against this controversial backdrop, Greg Mitchell is the one reporter examining all the coverage and taking the long view of the press’s performance.
Greg Mitchell is the editor of Editor & Publisher, the journal of the newspaper business which has won several major awards for its coverage of Iraq and the media. He has written eight books, including Hiroshima in America (with Robert Jay Lifton) and The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair's Race for Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics, and his articles have appeared in dozens of leading newspapers and magazines. He lives in the New York City area. Joseph L. Galloway is one of the most respected war correspondents of our time and currently writes a syndicated column on military affairs. He co-authored the bestselling We Were Soldiers Once...and Young and the forthcoming We Are Soldiers Still. He was awarded a Bronze Star for valor in Vietnam.
