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The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public
Scribner
June 2006
245 pages
ISBN: 0743267818
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Memoir | Non-Fiction Political
In the course of more than sixty years spent covering
Washington politics, Helen Thomas has witnessed a raft of
fundamental changes in the way news is gathered and
reported. Gone are the days of frequent firsthand contact
with the president. Now, the press sees the president only
at tightly controlled and orchestrated press conferences. In
addition, Thomas sees a growing -- and alarming --
reluctance among reporters to question government spokesmen
and probe for the truth. The result has been a wholesale
failure by journalists to fulfill what is arguably their
most vital role in contemporary American life -- to be the
watchdogs of democracy. Today's journalists, according to
Thomas, have become subdued, compromised lapdogs. Here, the legendary journalist and bestselling author
delivers a hard-hitting manifesto on the precipitous decline
in the quality and ethics of political reportage -- and
issues a clarion call for change. Thomas confronts some of
the most significant issues of the day, including the
jailing of reporters, the conservative swing in television
news coverage, and the administration's increased insistence
on "managed" news. But she is most emphatic about reporters'
failure to adequately question President George W. Bush and
White House spokesmen about the lead-up to the invasion of
Iraq, and on subjects ranging from homeland security to the
economy. This, she insists, was a dire lapse. Drawing on her peerless knowledge of journalism, Washington
politics, and nine presidential administrations, as well as
frank interviews with leading journalists past and present,
Thomas provides readers with a rich historical perspective
on the roots of American journalism, the circumstances
attending the rise and fall of its golden age, and the
nature and consequences of its current shortcomings. The
result is a powerful, eye-opening discourse on the state of
political reportage -- as well as a welcome and inspiring
demand for meaningful and lasting reform.
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