George Bush and the News Media

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It was only a few years ago , that President George W . Bush was heralded as a leader among leaders . He had responded to the crisis of 9 /11 with what appeared to be decisiveness and honor . That was the immediate perception , until the country learned the rest of the story . The rest of the story ' came to light through news stories , newss , and the like , which provided information that the

President not only didn 't respond appropriately , but in fact , at times didn 't seem to respond at all . The Bush Administration has undergone a transformation in the media that has not been positive . Until recently , the polls have continued to show a decline in the popularity of the President However , with a recent burst in media stories , proclaiming the President 's positive efforts , Bush has , for the moment , reclaimed some of his followers . The question remains , does Bush influence the media beyond what is reasonable , or does the media own Bush

As Alterman Tomasky state , in their article entitled Wake Up Time , the press which covers the Presidential Administration and a multitude of other factions , are among the most powerful people in the world . If journalists demonstrated the kind of tenacity in going after key political stories that they did during that brief shining moment , well America will have an election worthy of the world 's oldest democracy and reporters and editors alike will be able to speak proudly of the charge given to them by its oldest written constitution : to protect and defend the public 's right to know its leaders--and to choose them wisely (Alterman Tomasky , 2004

Yet , if among the most powerful people in the world , why is the Administration not responding in kind ? One would expect , in a democratic society , that the media would have an impact on not only the public , but the Administration and its policies

Public opinion of the President and how his administration have performed are , in large part , formed by the media and their presentation . The media has been scorned by the public for their soft coverage of actions , and by the Administration for their lack of truth-telling ' So which is it ? Is the administration performing poorly or is the press reporting poorly ? It is this writer 's belief that the press has fallen short of providing the public with the truth .When presented with the Iraq war , the country rallied in support of the President . The case had been presented successfully , at the time . The President assured the United States that this was not only a worthy battle , but a necessary one , and the country concurred . The media initially covered the story as one of our greatest challenges of all time . But , the questions were few and far between . It appeared to be more of an opportunity for the media to be part of the war than...