Danny Schechter

About the author: Danny Schechter is a critic and author of The More You Watch the Less You Know, News Dissector, and several other books on the media.

When the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, the White House used media professionals to portray President Bush and U.S. military commanders in the most flattering light on television. Reporters were "embedded," or allowed to travel with U.S. fighting troops on condition that they provide patriotic images and human interest stories and not show dead bodies or other destruction to viewers back home. By managing the willing media, the White House was able to use newspapers, magazines, and television and radio programs to promote its political interests while silencing its critics. While this tactic may have benefited the...