Getting It Wrong: Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories in American Journalism

323 Pages·2010·2.84 MB·English

by  W. Joseph Campbell

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the General Endowment Fund of the University of
California Press Foundation
Getting It Wrong
Ten of the Greatest Misreported Stories
in American Journalism
W. Joseph Campbell
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley · Los Angeles · London
University of California Press, one of the most
distinguished university presses in the United States,
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www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England © 2010 by W. Joseph Campbell Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
Data Campbell, W. Joseph.
Getting it wrong: ten of the greatest misreported
stories in American journalism / W. Joseph Campbell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-520-25566-1 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-520-26209-6 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Journalistic ethics—United States—History—20th
century. 2. Journalism—Objectivity—United States—
History—20th century. 3. Press and politics—United
States—History—20th century. 4. Sensationalism in
journalism—United States—History—20th century.
5. Journalism—Social aspects—United States—
History—20th century. I. Title.
PN4756.C36 2010
071’.30904—dc22 2009047705
Manufactured in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100%
post consumer waste, recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC
recycled certified and processed chlorine free. It is
acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by
Bio Gas energy.
To Verne E. Edwards Jr.,
journalism educator
Contents
List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. “I’ll Furnish the War”: The Making of a Media Myth
2. Fright beyond Measure? The Myth of The War of the Worlds
3. Murrow vs. McCarthy: Timing Makes the Myth
4. The Bay of Pigs-New York Times Suppression Myth
5. Debunking the “Cronkite Moment”
6. The Nuanced Myth: Bra Burning at Atlantic City
7. It’s All about the Media: Watergate’s Heroic-Journalist Myth
8. The “Fantasy Panic”: The News Media and the Crack-Baby Myth
9. “She Was Fighting to the Death”: Mythmaking in Iraq
10. Hurricane Katrina and the Myth of Superlative Reporting
Conclusion
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
1. Frederic Remington sketch on New York Journal front page,
February 2, 1897
2. Front page of New York Journal, January 17, 1897
3. James Creelman
4. Front page of Chicago Herald and Examiner, October 31, 1938
5. Orson Welles with reporters, October 31,1938
6. Edward R. Murrow, cigarette in hand
7. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy
8. Drew Pearson, muckraking columnist
9. President John F. Kennedy with the British prime minister Harold
Macmillan
10. Walter Cronkite, on assignment in Vietnam, February 1968
11. President Lyndon B. Johnson, February 27, 1968
12. Women’s liberation protest, Atlantic City, New Jersey, September
7, 1968
13. Art Buchwald
14. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of the Washington Post, May
1973
15. “Crack babies” headline in the Washington Post
16. Pfc. Jessica Lynch, receiving medals
17. Sergeant Donald Walters
18. Michael D. Brown at news conference
19. Front page of New Orleans Times-Picayune, September 2, 2005
20. New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin
Acknowledgments
In late summer 2005, Reed Malcolm, a senior acquisitions editor for the University of
California Press, asked me by email whether I had ever considered “writing a sort of
‘great myths in journalism’ book.” He had found references online to my earlier works,
which debunked well-known tales of the yellow press period in late-nineteenth-century
American journalism. Reed said he had in mind a readable book “geared for a general
audience.” His query was astonishing—and quite coincidental. At the time, I was
completing a book about 1897, a decisive year in American journalism. And I was
contemplating as my next book project a detailed look at media myths—stories about or
by the news media that are widely believed and often retold but which, upon scrutiny,
prove to be apocryphal or wildly exaggerated.
So began a collaboration that has resulted in this book. While we had our differences,
Reed and his colleagues at the Press were always courteous, helpful, and professional.
This book benefited from Reed’s enthusiasm, and from the thoughtfulness of his
associate, Kalicia Pivirotto. Kate Warne, the book’s production editor, was a delight to
work with.
Madeleine Adams, whom the Press hired to copyedit the final manuscript, did fine
work. She called attention to at least a few errors that would have been acutely
embarrassing had they not been caught.
I am in the debt of many people for their contributions to this work. My recent graduate
assistants at American University devoted significant time, energy, and attention to the
media myths project. I thank them all: Andrew Knapp, Mark Syp, and Ryan Sibley.
Another former graduate student at American, Neil Hickey, merits special mention. Neil
once characterized media-driven myths as the junk food of journalism—an inspired turn
of phrase that I have borrowed, with his permission. Ruxandra Giura, a talented digital
journalist, extended invaluable assistance on this and other projects. I am grateful for her
help, especially in the preparation of many of the photographs that appear on these
pages.
I am indebted to John Watson, a faculty colleague at American, for helping to make
sure that I completed draft chapters in a timely manner. Other faculty colleagues—