How the American "free press" toed the government line on Georgia

The change in the media line corresponded to a sharpening of the anti-Russian posture of the Bush administration. For the first few days of the conflict, when no clear line had been laid down by the government, the mainstream media was somewhat at sea. But once the official line had been clearly established, the corporate-controlled media snapped to attention and marshaled all of its considerable resources to perform its customary service of vetting the news and manipulating public opinion to suit the aims and requirements of the state.

The media presentation of the Georgia crisis is a textbook example of the way in which the free press in America functions as little more than a semi-official propaganda agency of the government.

The first response of US media on August the 9 was to shrink before a complex story. The Wall Street Journal editorial page, a reliable mouthpiece for the most right-wing sections of the political establishment, published an editorial noting that it was unclear at this stage which side is more at fault for the current fighting, adding that the two countries have seemed to want [war] for some time.