Where did Tommy Franks call the news media the "fourth front"?

January 4, 2012 1:26 PM

Help me find the primary source for Tommy Franks' assertion that the press represented the "fourth front" in the Iraq war.

A Google search shows that the "fourth front" assertion is quoted in many places, but the most concise source I've been able to get is that it came from a New Yorker article in 2003. Searching the New Yorker archives didn't seem to help, but it's possible I goofed.

A book called Who Benefits From Global Violence and War provides a citation, but the relevant endnote is not available in the Google books preview.

Can someone craftier than me can find the primary source?

posted by compartment to media & arts (2 answers total)

Amazon has the relevant footnote page in their "Look Inside" feature. If I've got this right, the footnote (Ch. 7, n.93) cites to The Death of Media: And the Fight to Save Democracy and When News Lies, both by Danny Schechter.
posted by decathecting at 1:51 PM on January 4, 2012

Thanks, decathecting. Google shows excerpts of those books claiming that the quote comes from Tommy Franks' war plan, which was "quietly leaked to friendly journalists like those at Fox News."

After some more searching, I'm unable to find either the leaked document itself, or a longer quote drawn from the leaked document. Hm.
posted by compartment at 2:06 PM on January 4, 2012