Phil Donahue’s vindication: Media icon unloads on Fox, Cheney and what happened at MSNBC [View all]

[DonViejo]

Legendary TV host was fired for opposing Iraq war. Here's how he feels seeing the return of those who got it wrong

ELIAS ISQUITH

As has been well-documented, and will hopefully long be taught in journalism schools nationwide, the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003 was not the American mainstream media’s finest hour. There are plenty of obvious examples — Judith Miller’s reporting for the New York Times, Jeffrey Goldberg’s stuff for the New Yorker, almost everything Peter Beinart did at the New Republic — but perhaps the incident that best encapsulates the hysterical and illiberal atmosphere of the time is the way MSNBC treated Phil Donahue.

The talk-show legend was, at the time, one of the few voices in the mainstream standing against the march to war. He invited antiwar voices onto his show. He questioned the government’s argument for why war was necessary. He cautioned against rushing into an undertaking as grave, monumental and consequential as war. He was getting fine ratings. But he made Chris Matthews — at the time a huge Bush booster — uncomfortable, and network executives worried they’d look bad unless they, too, were “waving the flag at every opportunity.” So Donahue was fired. And then the U.S. went to war. And we all know how that went.

More than a decade later, Iraq is still in chaos — and the media is still giving ample airtime to the very people who created and perpetuated the jingoistic, authoritarian environment that made the suits at MSNBC so very concerned about looking out of step. But while the folks at the networks busied themselves with broadcasting Bill Kristol’s latest insights, Salon figured we’d give Donahue a call and ask him his thoughts about Iraq, the media and the current state of American politics. Our conversation is below, and has been edited for clarity and length.

First of all, what are you up to nowadays?

Well, as you may know, I produced a documentary. It’s an anti-Iraq War documentary. It’s titled “Body of War,” and it is available on Netflix. The film did very well in festivals. People’s Choice at the Toronto International Film Festival, for example, and we also did well in many other places. The documentary has played in quite a few places around the country. Alas, we’ve sold no popcorn, and no distributor would take it still. Iraq docs were falling off the marquee. It’s not “a take your girl to the movie” movie.

more
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/10/phil_donahues_vindication_media_icon_unloads_on_fox_cheney_and_what_happened_at_msnbc/