Editorials & Other Articles

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(129,278 posts) Mon Sep 29, 2025, 02:26 PM Monday

Cowed and Neutered: CBS News and the Washington Post

By Joel Connelly

When our Republic has been in danger, from demagoguery and a paranoid President, reporters for CBS News and the Washington Post have stood out by standing up for the First Amendment. But these days, the stature of both news organizations would allow them to hide only in a field of stubble.

CBS, once the Tiffany of networks, is terminating Stephen Colbert, who poked fun at our prima donna President. CBS recently paid out $16 million to settle a bogus Trump lawsuit. The suit was over how 60 Minutes supposedly edited an interview last year with Trump ‘s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Post fired 11-year columnist Karen Attiah, who committed the sin of pointing to extreme positions taken by slain right wing influencer Charlie Kirk, such as opposing landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960s. With a new life and a new wife, Post owner Jeff Bezos has taken to hobnobbing with Trump, who has decried our press as “the enemy of the people.” Bezos is recognizing that with this POTUS, flattery will get you somewhere. Trump has lately taken to saying that criticism of him is “illegal” and “no longer free speech.”

What a world of difference from a half-century ago when The Post faced down the Nixon Administration. Recall campaign manager John Mitchell’s threat to The Post’s then-owner Katharine Graham, saying if the paper ran one Woodward/Bernstein investigative piece: “Katy Graham is going to get her tit caught in a big fat ringer if that’s published.”

https://www.postalley.org/2025/09/23/cowed-and-neutered-cbs-news-and-the-washington-post/

I didn't know Mitchell had said that. He ended up going to prison.

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Cowed and Neutered: CBS News and the Washington Post (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Monday OP

Background UpInArms Monday #1

Of course John Mitchell markodochartaigh Monday #2

UpInArms

(53,465 posts)

1. Background

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Mon Sep 29, 2025, 02:31 PM

Monday

Fifty years ago, the New York Times began publishing excerpts and analyses of the “History of the United States Decision-Making Process on Vietnam Policy,” better known as the Pentagon Papers. To mark the anniversary of the ensuing clash between President Richard Nixon’s administration and free press, the Center for Women’s History dives into the story behind the award-winning film, The Post, of how Washington Post publisher, Katharine Graham, decided to risk everything and expose government policy in Vietnam.

… snip …

The Nixon administration’s response to the Pentagon Papers was multi-faceted. It took an openly antagonistic stance towards the press in general and the Washington Post and Katharine Graham in particular. The administration also engaged in a covert smear campaign against Daniel Ellsberg, conducted by the same Special Investigations Unit that would break into the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters in the Watergate buildings almost one year later. The Post ran its first story about the “third-rate burglary,” on June 18, 1972, and for the next two years, the Watergate investigation consumed the paper. President Nixon’s retaliation was swift and brutal—as former Attorney General John Mitchell infamously ranted, “Katie Graham’s gonna get her tit caught in a big fat wringer.” Embattled, Graham wrote to a friend, “The idea of living with that gang in the White House whacking at you… is depressing beyond words.” Yet, she continued to fight for press freedom.

https://www.nyhistory.org/blogs/lets-go-lets-publish-katharine-graham-and-the-pentagon-papers

markodochartaigh

(4,221 posts)

2. Of course John Mitchell

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Mon Sep 29, 2025, 02:35 PM

Monday

was not only Nixon's campaign manager, he was the Attorney General of the US as well.

From Wikipedia:

The United States attorney general (AG) is the head of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and serves as the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government. The attorney general acts as the principal legal advisor to the president of the United States on all legal matters. The attorney general is also a statutory member of the Cabinet of the United States and a member of the United States National Security Council. Additionally, the attorney general is seventh in the presidential line of succession.

What does it say about justice in a country when someone like Mitchell is in charge of it?

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