"War is the health of the state", the radical writer Randolph Bourne once said. And when the U.S. goes to war most of the corporate media wrap themselves in the American flag and join the parade. Instead of being on the sidelines and acting as independent and critical observers, too many journalists become cheerleaders. And in several notorious cases reporters have actually become conduits for government disinformation and propaganda. They simply take Pentagon and White House press releases and change a few words around and recycle them as “news.” Media subordination to state power weakens democracy, does not serve the information needs of citizens, and makes war easy.

Norman Solomon, a nationally syndicated columnist, is a leading political commentator and media critic. The National Council of Teachers of English honoured him with the George Orwell Award for Distinguished Contribution to Honesty and Clarity in Public Language. He is director of the Institute for Public Accuracy, a consortium of policy researchers and analysts. He is the author of many books including Target Iraq, his latest is War Made Easy.