In reporting on Secretary of State Colin Powell's presentation on Iraq at the U.N. Security Council, many media outlets gave more credence to his allegations because Powell is considered by media insiders to be both supremely trustworthy and a reluctant warrior. As a USA Today headline put it (2/6/03), "Case Is Stronger When 'Biggest Dove' Makes It." Or as Time magazine gushed (2/17/03): "Powell, we sometimes forget, is a phenomenon, a chapter from tomorrow's history books walking right in front of us. It isn't just the unique resume that demands respect; it's also the presence and the personality--the unforced authenticity [...]
Search Results for: Robert Parry and Norman Solomon
Jan
01
1996
Powell Media Mania
After months of intense media hype about Colin Powell, pundit Joe Klein carried the prevalent spin to its dizzying conclusion. "The key to the race" for the presidency in 1996, Klein wrote (Newsweek, 11/13/95), is that "ideas are not important. Stature is everything." He added: "But if ideas don't matter, what does? Civility does." Mesmerized by Colin Powell's "stature" and "civility," and showing a remarkable disdain for "ideas," the news media pumped up Powellmania. As early as 1994, Newsweek (10/10/94) was asking the question "Can Colin Powell Save America?" and declaring him "the most respected figure in American public life." [...]
