Verification of Truth for War

My understanding at the start of the Iraqi war was that the declaration had something to do with the attack on 9/11. While that was certainly highlighted in the media as a connection to Al Qaeda, the attacks on that day were not at all considered to be the kick-starter for the Iraqi war.

As the war unfolded, the press took to many different angles in their stories of war. Most of the press focused on just what the American government officials were saying. This is not an effective way of rousing the truth and reason as a journalist. For the most part, there was no verification of the facts behind the Iraqiwar. Only reports of hearsay by the government, disguised as reports of actual events, were taken into consideration as the straight facts.

The New York Times article from September 8, 2002 gave voice to the government and what they had to say about the war. The story focused on Saddam Hussein and his nuclear weapons program. This article from the New York Times swayed from giving the whole truth. It only sought the reality that government officials wanted to create for the American public. By reading the story, not one American citizen would have foreseen the declaration of war in 2003.

Knight Ridder took a different approach to reports from government officials. They took the reports and used a method of verification to interpret the information and make sure that the information presented was factual. Sure, the story was presented with a bit of skepticism from the government and the press, but looking back at journalism at the start of was. There were rarely any sources that were clear in understanding the declaration behind the Iraqi War. Knight Ridder went back to the journalist’s standard of ethical reporting. This paved way for a more verified truth in the news they published.