Lost Remote, as usual, will take any side of an argument that is counter to the President. Lost Remote is supposed to be a site that reports on the media and trends in the news media and the television / cable industry. It’s mostly good, but there’s a palpable hatred for anything conservative on their little site (witness this piece of garbage and the ensuing tongue lashing I left for Steve Safran).
This time, it’s the issue of the Newsweek story. You know the one. The one Newsweek claims was written under the highest journalistic standards that didn’t hold up after one check of the sources? Anyway, Lost Remote, predictably, is upset that Scott McClellan had the stones to demand that Newsweek do something to fix the issue they themselves created.
They quote the question asked of McClelland, “Who made you the editor of Newsweek?” and titled the story, “White House Pressures Newsweek Over Report.”
Let’s consider, for a moment, the idea that the White House is pressuring anybody over the report. In response to Newsweek’s non-story, 16 people died, and muslim terrorists around the world will be using this non-incident as a rallying cry for recruitment. You know how we’re always told every action in the world can inflame the “arab street?” Well, this one did and it cost 17 soldiers their lives. Oh, and it wasn’t true.
What McClelland would like reported, and what Newsweek could and should do to fix this is simple.
1. Report that the US Military gives prisoners, free of charge, a copy of the Koran. They are under no obligation to do so. Food, water, a few rags to wear, and a place to sleep are the only obligations they have in treating you as prisoners. Newsweek should make a point of mentioning this generosity.
2. The Koran, the holiest of holy books that prisoners have been reported to have been tearing pages out of and flushing down the toilets in protest of their detainment, when handled by infidels, is done so with gloves on according to muslim tradition, and is treated as a holy book by people to whom it may not even mean anything. Contrast that with the idea that people threw it in the toilet. Newsweek should make a point of this reverance for a book that doesn’t mean a damned thing to most americans.
But nowhere in that press conference does McClelland “pressure” anybody. Matt Drudge, unlike the boys over at Lost Remote, actually went a bit further and actually transcribed some of the press conference:
Q With respect, who made you the editor of Newsweek? Do you think it’s appropriate for you, at that podium, speaking with the authority of the President of the United States, to tell an American magazine what they should print?
MR. McCLELLAN: I’m not telling them. I’m saying that we would encourage them to help –
Q You’re pressuring them.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I’m saying that we would encourage them –
Q It’s not pressure?
MR. McCLELLAN: Look, this report caused serious damage to the image of the United States abroad. And Newsweek has said that they got it wrong. I think Newsweek recognizes the responsibility they have. We appreciate the step that they took by retracting the story. Now we would encourage them to move forward and do all that they can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report. And that’s all I’m saying. But, no, you’re absolutely right, it’s not my position to get into telling people what they can and cannot report….
Q Are you asking them to write a story about how great the American military is; is that what you’re saying here?
MR. McCLELLAN: Elisabeth, let me finish my sentence. Our military –
Q You’ve already said what you’re — I know what — how it ends.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, I’m coming to your question, and you’re not letting me have a chance to respond. But our military goes out of their way to handle the Koran with care and respect. There are policies and practices that are in place. This report was wrong. Newsweek, itself, stated that it was wrong. And so now I think it’s incumbent and — incumbent upon Newsweek to do their part to help repair the damage. And they can do that through ways that they see best, but one way that would be good would be to point out what the policies and practices are in that part of the world, because it’s in that region where this report has been exploited and used to cause lasting damage to the image of the United States of America. It has had serious consequences. And so that’s all I’m saying, is that we would encourage them to take steps to help repair the damage. And I think that they recognize the importance of doing that. That’s all I’m saying.
Basically, it’s really simple.
Newsweek screwed up. The damage from that screw up is a lot more than a one paragraph retraction on page 32 can fix.
But it’s not just about a retraction in this case. Newsweek levelled a heavy accusation with no backup. That accusation needs to be apologized for, and the truth about how the US handles the Koran really needs to be reported immediately. Of course, I’m not really expecting any of this to happen. The media is so outraged that the White House would call the media on to the carpet and hold them accountable for their false stories that they’ll just change the issue to the White House overstepping its bounds.
This story will vanish very quickly, and it will be remembered as ending with the White House pressuring Newsweek. People like the guys over at Lost Remote and in the White House Press Corps will see to that.
(Press conference transcript can be found here, roughly in the middle of the page they start talking about Newsweek)