The Press as Shaper of Events

A recent Rolling Stone article features General McChrystal and his top aides making critical and disparaging remarks about Obama's national security team. Specifically, McChrystal said Obama appeared "uncomfortable and intimidated" during their first meeting. The article also quotes a McChrystal aide referring to Vice President Biden as "Bite Me."

Regarding the Rolling Stone article, The New York Times says, "Over all, the magazine article depicted General McChrystal at the head of a small circle of aides engaged in what came close to locker-room trash talk as they discussed foreign policy, the French, their allegiance to one another and their own concerns about course of the war." (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/us/politics/24mcchrystal.html?hp)

Today, McChrystal resigned from his post and Obama announced General Petraeus as his replacement. This removal illustrates how the press can be a powerful shaper of events. In The Press Effect, Jamieson and Waldman say, "The press both covers events and, in choosing what to report and how to report it, shapes their outcome. In 1959, Douglas Carter dubbed the press 'the fourth branch of government,' arguing that reporters were not merely observers but also were participants with a substantial degree of political power." (p.95)

McChrystal chose to make the comments he said. However, it was in the hands of the journalist, Michael Hastings, to report the comments and the context in which they occurred. The decision to print these comments ultimately led to a change in the leadership of American forces in Afghanistan. Typically, public figures who wish to stay in good stead with their colleagues/constituents try to control the press in order to create a positive image - McChrystal demonstrates how it's always possible to achieve the exact opposite.