Knoller Reflects On His Critics

By: Brian Montopoli
Topics: 4th Estate Debate

(CBS)

On Thursday, we posted CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller's response to Bill Moyers' claim that members of the press corps were, as Knoller puts it, "easily-manipulated stooges on bended-knee to the President and his top aides" in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Knoller's post, which took issue with that claim, generated a strong response from those who agree with Moyers.

On Friday we posted Knoller's follow up piece, in which he challenged his critics to come up with the questions they would have asked the president. (Both posts here.)

Knoller has read through the responses to that challenge, and below you can read his comments.

Be Careful What You Ask For...

When in good faith, I challenged you to offer questions that you would have asked President Bush at that news conference two weeks before the war in Iraq, a few of you did.

But the vast majority of the more than 200 responses were of the variety that told me what I could do with my challenge.

The depth of the anger and outrage directed at me and others in the White House press corps was profound, to say the least.

But I promised to read your responses and I did. Here's a few excerpts from what you wrote:

"You have failed democracy itself."

"I don't know if you can ever be forgiven."

"You failed your profession. You failed your country."

"Knoller's contempt for the people is palpable."

"...spineless sycophant."

"...lazy propagandistic reporting."

"You continue to enable this sociopathic administration."

"(You've) given the Administration a free ride since the war began."

"(Knoller) still doesn't get it. He's hopeless."

"A member of the liberal media."

"CBS and others still act as mouthpieces for the Bush Administration."

"You owe us an apology."

"What a pathetic defense of his profession."

"Knoller et al need to get a clue."

"Knoller talks exactly like the good little lapdog."

"The MSM (mainstream media) were Bush's clown shoes. Knoller. Just...clown shoes."

"Knoller is a hack who helped lead the nation into war and he's just making up stuff here."

Not what I'd call constructive criticism but you get the idea.

I guess some of my detractors didn't read the Rules of Engagement for posting comments on Public Eye.

But a few, and only a few, had anything positive to offer.

"Hats off to Knoller for his willingness to participate in a dialogue."

"Hey Knoller. Let me give you a bit of advice. Do not try to reason with this crowd. They have turned on you now. Your only way out is to grovel and say how wrong you and the entire media were. You can't reason with them."

"Those who are most angry at you, Mark, are the people who believe that the media's job is to advance the agenda of the Liberal Democratic Party."

Now remember, all this began when I took issue with Bill Moyers' portrait of White House reporters as compliant cheerleaders for the Administration who asked "no hard questions" at that news conference on March 6, 2003 – which turned out to be two weeks before the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Moyers responded on his own blog to what I wrote and to letters from my CBS News colleague Bill Plante and reporter April Ryan of the American Urban Radio Network.

Moyers stands by his criticism and again made the case that reporters knowingly took part in a news conference that was "scripted."

Now, there can be no doubt that President Bush prepared responses to the questions he expected to get. That's standard procedure for presidents to ready themselves for news conferences by staging mock sessions with top aides posing the questions.

But it's just plain wrong for Moyers to insist that the session was scripted, based on the President's disclosure that he had a written list of reporters on whom he planned to call.

As Moyers well knows, the President is free to call on any reporter he wants. And whether it's written down on paper, or he just wings it, doesn't make it a scripted news conference.

I can assure you that no one told me what to ask or knew in advance what I would ask. In fact, I wasn't sure what I would ask until just before I was called on.

And one more thing. A number of you wrote that you considered most reporters, myself included, as nothing more than stenographers.

I certainly don't see myself that way, though I do believe that accurately reporting what the president says is an indispensable part of a good reporter's job.

And if the day comes when reporters substitute what they believe for what they know, we'll all be poorer for it.

Brian Montopoli
Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
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by skeezix06 May 2, 2007 9:06 AM EDT: Say, Mark, did you hear the one about Bush asking Congress for additional powers to spy on the American people? Probably not. It might restrict access if reported. The people don't need to know because it would just upset them. It would be rude and impolite and we just don't do that, do we...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070502/ap_on_go_co/domestic_spying;_ylt=AoXUnqClLxOLxk7a5G_YQa6s0NUE

Senators wary of Bush's wiretap proposal; Reply to this comment


by mattcat25 May 1, 2007 5:17 PM EDT: These kinds of actions we have all witnessed by George W. Bush are what make him the worst president in American history. Every single thing that The Bush Administration does is a disaster, bring the VETO on.

The next bill should be stronger with more restrictions and oversight of Bush's squandering of our Federal Treasury Funds. Maybe, the Congress should write in a voluntary resignation of Bush, Cheney and reparations to be paid to every family for the lost lives of their soldiers that served in Iraq.

We only need one more VETO%u2019d bill from Bush and this nightmare of Iraq will be over!

Bring it on%u2026; Reply to this comment


by sketchartist-2009 May 1, 2007 2:57 PM EDT: "What we write, and the way we do our jobs, affects the way the American people assess their government, assess the situation in the world, the war in Iraq, the war on terrorism, relations with other countries. If we're not doing it properly, or questions can be raised about the way we do it, it ought to be reported as well. I don't think we're above criticism %u2013 just the contrary. Although many of us in this business have a thin skin, we ought to be able to look at ourselves and accept criticism from others. I think there's not enough media criticism out there." - Mark Knoller (LINK below)

Oh, the irony.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/03/15/publiceye/entry2573701.shtml; Reply to this comment


by sketchartist-2009 May 1, 2007 2:38 PM EDT: Bush himself said the news conference was "scripted". Oh, you can say he was joking, but WHY would he say that? Further, we all saw that no serious challenge was made to his "talking points". In other words, whether figuratively or literally, the reporters stuck to the SCRIPT.

Also, how interesting that Knoller only thinks the posts that agreed with him, slam "liberals" and insult the sincerity and motives of the all the other posters are "positive".

Mr. Knoller, people SAW the news conference. They are able to judge it for themselves, and you aren't the only person speaking about it "in good faith". Finally, you are still avoiding discussing the OTHER 99 per cent of Moyers' program.; Reply to this comment


by sketchartist-2009 May 1, 2007 2:29 PM EDT: Bush himself said the news conference was "scripted". Oh, you can say he was joking, but WHY would he say that? Further, we all saw that no serious challenge was made to his "talking points". In other words, whether figuratively or literally, the reporters stuck to the SCRIPT.

Also, how interesting that Knoller only thinks the posts that agreed with him, slam "liberals" and insult the sincerity and motives of the all the other posters are "positive".

Mr. Knoller, people SAW the news conference. They are able to judge it for themselves, and you aren't the only person speaking about it "in good faith". Finally, you are still avoiding discussing the OTHER 99 per cent of Moyers' program.; Reply to this comment


by aris_-2009 May 1, 2007 10:47 AM EDT: I don't frequent this blog because I don't watch CBS News. So I missed Mark Knoller's challenge to the blogosphere "...to come up with the questions they would have asked the president" during the infamous March 6, 2003 WH press conference.

My reaction when I followed a link to the post was, OH. MY. GOD!

I've seen nothing since this misbegotten era started that illustrates more revealingly the total disconnect between our mainstream press and the public they are supposed to serve. You see, I watched that press conference. Intently. I remember is so very clearly, as clearly as very few events in my life. The reason is simple: I watched it while yelling at the WH correspondents, right after each question was asked. I was yelling the same thing, over and over: "Ask him about the connection between 9/11 and Iraq; ask him if Saddam was behind 9/11; ask him if there's evidence of a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. Ask him!"

cont............; Reply to this comment


by aris_-2009 May 1, 2007 10:39 AM EDT: Is it just me, or is this just about the worst blog in terms of commenting? First there are all the hoops you have to jump through to register, then there's the limit on how many characters to use, then there's no HTML, then you have to wait between posts, then you can't preview, then the last-to-first format is the reverse of what is generally accepted as the standard...

Yet another example on how these large corporations that control our news media just don't get the blogosphere. I don't think I'll be back here any time soon.; Reply to this comment


by aris_-2009 May 1, 2007 10:25 AM EDT: I don't frequent this blog because I don't watch CBS News. So I missed Mark Knoller's challenge to the blogosphere "...to come up with the questions they would have asked the president" during the infamous March 6, 2003 WH press conference.

My reaction when I followed a link to the post was, OH. MY. GOD!

I've seen nothing since this misbegotten era started that illustrates more revealingly the total disconnect between our mainstream press and the public they are supposed to serve. You see, I watched that press conference. Intently. I remember is so very clearly, as clearly as very few events in my life. The reason is simple: I watched it while yelling at the WH correspondents, right after each question was asked. I was yelling the same thing, over and over: "Ask him about the connection between 9/11 and Iraq; ask him if Saddam was behind 9/11; ask him if there's evidence of a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq. Ask him!"

cont............; Reply to this comment


by kewlduderules May 1, 2007 12:26 AM EDT: The truth shall set you free. You want to know the reason for self censorship in media?! and reasons for the Iraq War?! Quite a scholarly documentary below. Go here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2894821400057137878; Reply to this comment


by skeezix06 May 1, 2007 12:10 AM EDT: jburdman7, we already lost this one. Defective news media notwithstanding, anyone with a computer and access to outside news sources and some inside U.S. news sources has known for a long time that Iraqi women have been forced to start wearing burkas for their own safety. George Bush is the direct cause of the fact that we will be contending with yet another Islamic fundamentalist government. I'll say it again. We've already lost. The only question now is how many more American lives we are willing to lose before we get out.

The Kurdish uprising. Ghastly memories of that. If memory serves me correctly didn't the pre-timid media claim that Bush had encouraged them to revolt with the belief that we would come in and support them?

PBS Newshour is on at 6 p.m. weekdays here, Moyers is on Friday nights; at 9:30, I believe. I plan to watch almost, but not quite, religiously.; Reply to this comment