Glenn Greenwald’s incendiary analysis reveals that ABC News knew at the time who was spreading the word that Iraq was behind the anthrax attacks, one of the threads in the case for war. They still know and they’re not telling. Compare and contrast to Matthew Ingram’s reflections earlier this year about the internet blurring the lines between fact and rumor.
Traditional media can be influenced. PR and propaganda go back far into the history of mass media because they work. This is why companies have pr departments and famous people have media agents. Representatives of traditional media who believe they report fact without rumor or influence are Snow White’s haughty and deluded Evil Queen.