newsweek v. pravda

for a paper whose title means "truth," pravda leaves one hell of a lot out. under yeltsin, russia had seen an original deterioration of the constraints imposed on the press by the Party, but putin has successfully reined in the press, thus creating an institution that rarely dares to wander from regurgitating that which the so-called democratic government demands of it. when it comes to the press, the united states has, for the most part, enjoyed mostly hands-off administrations. unfortunately, as the recent newsweek/guantanamo bay debacle has illustrated, it seems we may be drifting towards the amount of censorship russia has come to accept as normal.

what exactly happened here? a well-reputed news magazine cited "reliable sources" in its printing of an article mentioning american soldiers' treatment of the qur'an. the government got wind of this article, didn't approve of the way the united states was portrayed, and pulled a withdrawl and an apology out of the magazine. they did this even though newsweek had approached a "senior defense department official" before printing the article, asking for his permission... and receiving it. you'd think that if the government found something untruthful about the article, they would have disallowed its printing... but, allowing the article to be printed presented the government with the opportunity to set an example. through newsweek, the united states government has scared journalists into self-censorship. first, it was the photos of american coffins on the shipride back from iraq. (photographers: check!) now, this. (writers: check!) and what an expanse of time between the two!

now, newsweek claims that it will not base its stories on anonymous sources. [see the famous drudge report.] it's interesting that intentions of truth can protect journalists in libel suits but cannot protect newsweek from the thrashing jaws of our government. and the worst part? americans seem to be ok with that. according to a knight survey from january 2005, 32% of american high schoolers believe that that press has "too much freedom," and 37% believe that press should receive government approval before publishing articles.

what are we teaching our children? does the first amendment mean anything anymore? or are we simply trying to bring pravda (please, define as you wish) to the united states?