The Elite Media

You've probably seen polls such as this one, that show that up to one-third of Americans believe 9/11 was "an inside job".

Moreover, over 80% of Americans think the Bush administration is hiding something or lying about 9/11.

So, it's safe to say huge swaths of Americans have some doubts about 9/11.

Here's my question: WHERE ARE THESE PEOPLE REPRESENTED IN THE MEDIA???

Isn't it striking that no major media figure has public doubts about the 9/11 attacks?

And it's not like 9/11 was a minor historical footnote-- it has been huge in terms of the direction the politics of the US have gone.

If the media was representative of Americans, we'd have one or two regular columnists of the New York Times openly skeptical of the official 9/11 story and calling for a new investigation!!!

Isn't this curious that there really is no significant figure in the media calling for a new 9/11 investigation?

And the idea that journalists and pundits are so well-informed about everything that they simply know the truth about 9/11 is laughable-- judging by their record with simple things like dealing with the Bush administration's lies about Iraq.

No, the answer is not that journalists know that the official 9/11 story is the absolute truth.

The answer is much more likely that journalists know that 9/11 was an inside job and are keeping it a secret:

...is it normal that members of the press know the answer to a major mystery but they withhold it, as a group, from the public?

Based on my own experience, I'd say the answer to Digby's question is: yes.

I grew up in the Washington area and went to school with lots of children of government and media types. Then I went to Yale, which is also full of such offspring. What I saw was that the corporate media—places like the New York Times, Washington Post, the networks, etc.— and government figures are blatantly, brazenly in bed with each other. And not just metaphorically; it's often literally true. There's Andrea Mitchell & Alan Greenspan; James Rubin & Christiane Amanpour; Judith Miller & a cast of thousands; and so on.

In any case, whoever they're shtupping, they share a mindset: the government and corporate media self-consciously see themselves as a governing elite that runs things hand in hand. That's why Nicholas Kristof is anxious that if hoi polloi keep calling George Bush a liar, it may make America "increasingly difficult to govern." And it's why Katherine Graham famously said this, in a speech at the CIA to new recruits:

"There are some things the general public does not need to know and shouldn't. I believe democracy flourishes when the government can take legitimate steps to keep its secrets, and when the press can decide whether to print what it knows."

William Greider explained the perspective of people like Graham and Kristof and their political cuddlebunnies in his book Who Will Tell the People:

In many private quarters of Washington, Alexander Hamilton's derisive dictum — "The People! The People is a great beast!" — has become an operating maxim. Survival in office requires a political strategy for herding "the beast" in harmless directions or deflecting it from serious matters it may not understand. Now and then, to the general dismay of political elites, Hamilton's "beast" breaks loose and tramples the civility of the regular order, though this usually occurs on inflammatory marginal issues that have little to do with the real substance of governing.

Weirdly, in fact, the media may be more invested in the status quo, and more concerned about "the people" going berserk, than actual politicians. Officeholders come and go, but the Washington Post is eternal.

(snip)

But the point is the powerhouse media and their politician lovemates truly do feel there are things normal, grubby Americans simply can't handle. Moreover, it has nothing to do with political parties. Everything I've seen in my life confirms that, with few exceptions, they feel this way across the (extremely narrow) political spectrum.

If you're not part of their little charmed circle, believe me, all your worst suspicions about them are true. They do think you're stupid. They do lie to you. They do hate and fear you. Most importantly, they think you can't be trusted with the things they know—because if you did know them, you'd go nuts and break America.