Bernard Lewis during his presentation at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. and carried by C-Span remarked that media in the Middle East is Soviet-style censorship doomed to failure.
I gathered from his comments he considers U.S. attempts to establish news services in Middle Eastern markets to be sorely needed channels of truth amidst reprehensible waves of disinformation.
I wonder if Lewis would consider the non-reporting of this item censorship? On MSNBC yesterday State Dept. press aide Emily Miller yanked the camera away from Colin Powell during his appearance on Meet the Press after Tim Russert asked a question concerning WMD in Iraq.
The LA Times and The Seattle Times report the appearance but fail to note this remarkable attempt to direct the show. It’s not appearing as a headline on Google News. Shouldn’t it?
I’ll gladly update in the coming days, weeks and months should any follow-ups appear and I must admit to wondering with George and Rummy boasting they don’t bother to read newspapers what do these publications fear?
And what would Lewis say of a country whose leaders have such a low opinion of their most prominent journalists and publications they ignore them? I have a good idea but it would be extremely enlightening to people everywhere if someone could get that response on the record.