Bill Keller: "Insatiable Desire For Scoops" Fueled Press Failure In Run-Up To Iraq War

In the latest installment of TIME's 10 Questions, New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller was asked by a reader in Portland, OR what he thought of the "free pass" the press gave the Bush administration in the run-up to the Iraq War.

"It was partly the insatiable desire for scoops people in the Administration were feeding about the potential threat in Iraq," Keller responded. "But a lot of it was just that we floated along with the conventional wisdom, the worst enemy of journalism."

The reader who asked the question may have been referring to former Times reporter Judith Miller. Miller has come under fire in the past for stories concerning Saddam Hussein's possession of weapons of mass destruction in the months before the invasion of Iraq. Her articles were often cited by Bush administration officials in justifying the March 2003 invasion. Miller later ran into controversy again when she was held in contempt of court and jailed as part of the Valerie Plame CIA-leak case.

In the interview, Keller also discusses the rise of online journalism, and the recent "Daily Show" segment which lampooned the Times as dated and out-of-touch.

"Well, that's the last time I try to be a good sport", Keller said. "Among the people who would miss us most would be the wise-guy pundits and scriptwriters for satirical TV shows, because they riff on the news we produce."

Read the full TIME 10 Questions here.

Get HuffPost Media On Facebook and Twitter!

Comments

[lvdragonlady]

The media also failed the American people by assuming that the administration at the time would never do anything to hurt America or it's people. They were wrong for missing this and not questioning ANYTHING that went on in the WH.
Today, they go to the other extreme, dissecting ever move, nob, hand shake, bow - to the point of being asinine.
What happened to REAL news reporting?

[zukervati]

Exactly, you hit it on the mark. It was this very shoddy reporting, which the American public caught on to and rejected the entire lot - and rightfully. If you can't trust the reporting, what good is the medium that carries it?

[frappe]

They played a pivotal role in selling the Iraq war and, more importantly, an equally important role in helping to elect Bush, president, by not being the least bit critical of his background and history while being devastating and predatory to his Democratic rivals, often magnifying the false and negative images and accusations by re-running the RNC's negative ads ad nauseum of both Gore and Kerry and then discussing them on air as if the garbage content merited further debate. They were tantamount to RNC informercials -- free advertising! Outrageous. (Gore the stiff tree hugger and inventor of the internet and Kerry the phony hero as per the Swiftboat Vets against Kerry.) It was a well coordinated attack designed to produce a Bush victory both in 2000 and 2004.

[satyriasis]

Well said. The MSM disgusts me.

[kindGSL]

They are just showing their bias.

[raven119]

So Keller is talking about the gullibility of news organizations in the same breath he's complaining about letting The Daily Show on the premises? Talk about gullible.

Keller should be more concerned about Miller's destruction of the New York Times' credibility. Miller was fed White House lies, published them as gospel and the White House cited her articles as reasons to go to war. The only gullible people are the ones who swallowed it hack, lie and sucker (yeah, I know it's really "hook, line and sinker" but the other has a more accurate vibe).

[kindGSL]

What about Jeff Gannon? It isn't like there weren't any warnings. It was more like the press already knew which topics to avoid to please their Johns.

[jjkmack]

What an incredibly lame and shallow excuse!

[grf67]

So the press is complicit in the largest crime of the decade. Great, they can go to jail along with bush, cheney et.al

[Derelict outlaw]

But they were just following the conventional wisdom, it was dangerous over there...and expensive....better American troops should take care of it.....there's no Sardi's or Russian Tea room or Starbucks...it's uncivilized.....and hot....not like Moscow at all......yuck,

Look Miller's been given some pictures of shiny tube thingys.....those could be used for bad stuff.....she says.....

[kindGSL]

She didn't just say it, she got angry defending it. She is a coconspirator to torture, murder and war crimes.

I bet if she started to blab, somebody would snuff her.

I bet not only does she know it, but all of those other New York and Dee Cee reporters know it too. Cheney shooting his lawyer in the face was just to remind them to stay within the lines and nothing bad will happen to them.

[kindGSL]

And they are still (not) covering the story! Surprise, surprise.

[lapdogs]

If reporters have licenses that allow them to do their reporting; they should be forced to turn them in for dereliction of duty, as they failed to do any "fact checking" before the Iraq War.

Stephen Colbert correctly called our pre-war reporters: "Transcribers" who listen to Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld; write their article exactly as White House said it should be, go home to wife, kids and dog.

[Derelict outlaw]

That's laughably absurd, they have no license at risk.

It's a cult of personality.

YOU could be a "journalist" at least as good a MIller if you know who to kiss.

[kindGSL]

I would have called them cheer leaders. They were not just reporting, they were pushing the story along.

[MarionDelgado]

I realize everyone is confused by this apparent lie. However, you realize Mr. Keller is just being honest when you find out that "Scoops" was his affectionate bedroom nickname for Judy Miller.

It's time to revive the E.C. t-shirts, I think they'll sell well.

[Mauiloa]

All those irresponsible and reprehensible "journalists" who cared more about "scoops" than the truth have an awful lot of blood on their hands to atone for.

[kindGSL]

Do you think we might have a soldier or two who takes exception to their dereliction of duty? I do.

[leftbrnrightbrn]

They were caught off guard by the fact that the American citizenry was pro Bush. They had to wait until the time was right to start politicizing the war. They had to wait until the WMDs weren't found, so they could start calling Bush a liar. And all the rest. They did their hateful s**t as soon as they could. What's the problem?

[CanadianBeef]

I would say the Times was cowardly and selfish. It placed its access to power ahead of a search for the truth. As for the public being pro-Bush, journalists are not supposed to make political calculations. They are supposed to report the truth and follow it wherever it leads, not go "embed" cheerleaders into the front lines. American media have become more like Pravda with every invasion.
I worked at daily newspapers myself, where I became disillusioned and disgusted by the pack mentality of the profession. Everyone was worried about not being on the same page. It was all right to miss the story as long as everyone else did.

[leftbrnrightbrn]

I was being sarcastic. Sorry.

[allegorphian]

Keller worked at my newspaper when he was just out of college and impressed everyone with his talent, insight, intelligence and, most of all, a good sense of humor. We had a great time together, as old time newpapermen were wont to do, yet he knew his stuff. He was the NYT correspondent in Moscow, and none of us were surprised when he went to the top.Don't underestimate Bill, he's caught in a print-media meltdown and is only trying to hold the center.

[TFlint]

Hey! Let's blame the New York Times. That way we're all off the hook for not trying to stop the war.

[Melkor]

I partly agree. There is plenty of blame to go around for the Iraq war - including some for the GENERAL PUBLIC as well. But it certainly doesn't exonerate the Times and their miserable courage.

[CanadianBeef]

It wasn`t just the Times, it was the whole media "countdown to Baghdad" mentatlity.
But I agree that the American public did very little to help. Presidents will keep starting wars as long as it boosts their popularity, as it does, evey time.

[Derelict outlaw]

and not impeaching Bush

[KennyFox]

Bullshit. They only scooped one side of the story.

[wonkguy]

Wouldn't the scoop have been, "Hey people, they're really aren't any WMDs and as bad a guy as Sadam is, he had nothing to do with 9/11!".

[TFlint]

Exposing an illegal war isn't a scoop?

[ghtrains]

Our "free press" has been and continues to be intimidated by yelling and name calling from the far right which continues to write the script for the news. It is in the best interest of a bunch of old white men to keep control of the country and its money.

[TFlint]

Right. The free press ought to quit, just like Palin.

[lapdogs]

The hell with the 4,322+ US Soldier Lives we lost (and cost), not to mention the families that will never see their son, daughter, brother, sister, father or mother and the many, many Iraqi lives lost, just as long as THE NEW YORK TIMES gets the "EXCLUSIVE SCOOP".

Now their is "priority" at a newspaper for you, folks.

[DakotaMinnesota]

Still, every single person I knew in 2003 KNEW that the Iraq war was utter evil. People who actually believed the media reports are the reason why our leaders act the way they do - they know that people who actually do their homework (rather than get their answers from the back of the book) are few and far between. No child left behind is going just fine. Nothing's gonna change until you people start turning off the damn television.

[kindGSL]

Really?

I knew it was bs but my husband totally bought into it. He believed the president and his men and he believed what he read in the papers and magazines. I knew they were lying but I could never convince him of that. He actually became very abusive about it.

I blame the media for this. Not only do I blame them, but I also try to tell them so. I write them emails, I even took a class.