Mayday Mayday, we're getting hit on the right and barraged on the left by "friendly" fire.

The press corps has a lot to answer for when a former White House press secretary accuses it of not being tough enough.


The political coverage of MSNBC anchors Chris Matthews, left, and Keith Olbermann has been criticized for being blatantly left-leaning and pro-Barack Obama.
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What a contrast in headlines and stories today with regard to coverage of President Bush and his Iraq war.

On the one hand is The Washington Post with the headline "MSNBC, Leaning Left And Getting Flak From Both Sides," and a story that discusses the criticism and attacks on MSNBC for its evening lineup, where the channel has clearly gravitated to the left in recent years and often seems to regard itself as the antithesis of Fox News.

And on the other is TIME with the headline "You Know You're a Wussy Press Corps When the Former White House Press Secretary Says You Were Too Easy on Him," and this story about Scott McClellan throwing President Bush under the bus -- and who can argue undeservedly so -- that reminds us that after September 11, journalists were convinced that their audience would punish them for delivering discouraging words about the President and the war. The story goes on to note that:

Not all journalism between September 11 and the start of the Iraq War was driven by the fear that journalists would be seen as unpatriotic -- and thus revenues would suffer -- but a shameful amount was. (See, for instance, the directives at CNN and MSNBC about not seeming anti-American before the war.)

If the press is more adversarial now, it's because, after Hurricane Katrina, they believed that they had the public's permission -- and therefore a business incentive -- to be.

It would be nice to believe that the shame of being called too wimpy by the guy whose job it was to keep the media in line would give the press more backbone during the next war or after the next terrorist attack. I'm not betting on it, though. It's easier for the press to get courage, and for press secretaries to get scruples, after the fact.
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For coverage of Scott McClellan's new book, see The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, and for coverage and White House rebuttal, see The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.