Couric Admits Feeling NBC Pressure On Iraq Coverage

This is the sad state of our corporate-owned media. Katie Couric now admits she felt "corporate pressure" to ease off of Condi Rice and the Bush administration overall after a "tough interview" she conducted with the former:

After the interview, Couric said she received an email from an NBC exec "forwarded without explanation" from a viewer who wrote that she had been "unnecessarily confrontational."

"I think there was a lot of undercurrent of pressure not to rock the boat for a variety of reasons, where it was corporate reasons or other considerations," she said in an interview with former journalist and author Marvin Kalb during "The Kalb Report" forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

It's not as if we don't know this kind of thing is going on (the exception proves the rule). We have ample evidence from Fox's Bush Administration boot-licking to payola pundits, fake newscasts, the firing of Donahue by MSNBC (for attacking our rationale on Iraq) even though you'd need binoculars to see Tucker Carlson's ratings from where he was, etc. and so forth.

But for some reason, I still get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I hear stories like this. It reminds me that as skeptical as I am of our corporate-crony media, I am not skeptical enough.

Upon finishing his work at the Constitutional Convention, a woman walked up to Benjamin Franklin and asked him what type of government our Constitution would birth.

Franklin famously replied, "A republic, if you can keep it." Yup, if we can keep it.

Comments

[goldmine]

It's a short jump from the limelight to the garbage can, Money just makes you the bigger of a whore. Such fun! 60 Minutes next?

[truthyguy]

Barring the major media getting some balls, the Internet is the only thing that can get the unvarnished facts out to the public. The trick is for there to be recognized sources where people will go to for information, such as HuffPo is attempting to do.

[dadw5boys]

I wish Katie would tell the tale of how an Iraqi told the FBI and CIA that Sadam had WMD'S and then flew to London where he told MI-6 that Sadam had WMD'S. He told MI-6 if you dont belive me call the FBI or CIA they know Sadam has WMD'S but failed to mention that he was their source.
Report how the British released the Sadam has WMD's story to the press and how the U.S. Medi jumped on it.
Sound like a circus stunt? It was and it sold like hot buttered popcorn too.

[fourex]

Katie you are not a reporter or a journalist. You missed everything that was going on in Iraq, the Feik Sheik, the U.S. paying off Sunni mobsters, and the ethnic cleansing in every neighborhood. You are an entertainment tonight all-star, kiss,kiss.

[kroses98]

I don't expect moral courage, but it seems as if CBS and Couric aren't ready to give up. They continue to send her out on "talking point" interviews, just like Bush does with the war, hoping and praying we will change our minds. Well, guess what folks? We are not that stupid, and the "spin" won't work anymore! We know who is lying to us, and who is not, and you BOTH are the liars! We are not interested in anything else you are selling!

[GenericBlogger]

CBS kept Dan Rather as their anchor for almost 24 years. Be prepared for Couric, another loser anchor to stay on the CBS payroll for sometime to come.

[Galvestonians for Dr. Ron Paul]

Katie likes to think of herself as "Americas daughter"....
They all think they are bigger then they really are..

[bajanbeauty]

The problem with Katie is really very simple. She has no credibility as a serious journalist, try though she might to convince the public to the contrary.

[dhfsfc]

Jesus H. Christ! Could we all stop pretending that Couric is a journalist? Really. This should be in HuffPo's Entertainment section. Katie, Paris, Lindsay. . . what's the difference?

[mjwca]

Gee, one viewer letter gets action if its from the "right" but tens of thousands of letters, complaints, editorials, etc, (regarding the blatant pandering of CBS and the rest of the MSM to the Bushies) from media critics, viewers and bloggers are just sour grapes and ignored. Pressure my mammna's behind, its all misdirection and backpedaling for wanting to beat the drums of war and support the lies.

[knosiswar]

She admits pressure at NBC but at CBS apparently, no pressure, she was hamstringed at NBC but she has been set free at CBS??? Yea. NBC she felt pressure on her morning talk show, but her anchor job at CBS has been hard-hitting jounalism?? Yea.

[GenericBlogger]

$15 million per year is enough of a sedative to relieve that political "pressure". Her recent bonding to the Republicans makes me think it wasn't a struggle or pressure for her to give in.

Katy Couric comes from a world of fluff, make believe, scenic trips, cooking segments, morning concerts, celebrity interviews, where-in-t­he-world-i­s-whoever at NBC, etc. The pressure she probably feels is culture shock and expectations to perform like a mature journalist.

[Sitty3]

The average viewer has long suspected our news has been slanted ane we are being spoon fed what they want us to believe. It's all smoke and mirrors. And you say who is they - to many to post.

[Manx]

I thought the Iraq coverage was a PR piece for the Bush administration. They should send Sumner Redway and Les Moonves to the front lines.

[ricflair]

And this fraud has the nerve to criticize Dan Rather? I'm not sure who's worse: Couric or Les Moonves for putting her in the chair in the first place.

[jackjett]

Her credibility, for me, went down the tubes when I first heard her first report from Bagdad.

If she kissed the ass on NBC and the result is hiding the truth from the American people, then she should resign and do so promptly.

jack jett

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

Do you really expect moral courage, intellectual integrity, and journalistic professionalism from a morning show host whose primary role for most of her career was to inform the public as to what to buy???