Not the President's Men: Frank Rich and I.F. Stone's Fight Against Propaganda

By John Powers, The Nation. Posted October 28, 2006.

A review of Frank Rich's The Greatest Story Ever Sold and two books on I.F. Stone show how media politics have become about repeating the same few things until they seem inevitable, especially if they aren't true.

Back when Arnold Schwarzenegger was pushing some California ballot initiatives that even he didn't really give a damn about, the New York Times ran a story about how he promoted his political agenda the same way he always sold the latest Terminator. While the piece itself was old hat, Duh Gubna was in beaming good humor, delighted to share his tricks -- how he trained himself to appear "real" in public, always stayed on message and wasn't afraid to repeat the exact same phrases every time. "I come from the world of reps," he explained with the sinewy assurance one expects of the Austrian Oak. "Remember that. It is all reps."