![]() This, he pontificated, was “real confirmation” that “the first casualty of war is often the truth.” Perhaps Jennings should have said that the first casualties of journalism today frequently are truth and context. On “ABC World News Tonight” on May 8, Peter Jennings said it had been “learned,” with no mention of Newsweek as his source, that the Pentagon damage reports had been wrong. On the broadcast side, “NBC Nightly News”-supplied with an early copy of the Newsweek story-was first out of the blocks with a May 7 report that uncritically presented the Newsweek claims, supported by a sound bite from co-author Thomas. ![]() As first copies of Newsweek hit the street May 7, the New York Post called the story a “bombshell.” On May 9, the Cleveland Plain Dealer charged the Pentagon with “Flights of Fibbery.” A day later, the Charleston, S.C., Post and Courier took the Defense Department to task for “extravagant claims.” The International Herald Tribune on May 11 thundered, “After NATO’s Lies About Kosovo, It’s Time To Come Clean.” By May 12, the New York Daily News had weighed in, headlining the “costly scandal.” Clark, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, last September.Ī number of other publications picked up the revelation and piled on. In its May 15 edition, Newsweek proclaimed a “Kosovo Cover-Up,” billed by a promotional strip on the cover of the magazine as “The Truth About the Air War.” According to authors John Barry and Evan Thomas, the US Air Force had “suppressed” an after-action report that conflicted starkly with the strike assessment that was released by Army Gen.
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