The journalist Glenn Greenwald believes cable news has an incentive to encourage conflict in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. “The American media benefits immensely from war,” Greenwald said in an interview with Democracy Now.
“Journalists are hungry for war,” Greenwald said. “You can basically see them drooling.”
Greenwald said “a huge number of people watch CNN and MSNBC when there are wars,” and pointed to President Obama’s news conference in Turkey, “where (journalists) tried to badger him into sending ground troops.”
Greenwald suggested journalists can’t resist the lure of war:
“They get to go to war zones and dress up as soldiers, you know, with camouflage flaks, and they embed with the American media. It’s exciting for them. They win awards as part of their career. They feel nationalistic. They feel like they have purpose. Telling people that they’re part of a civilization war and fighting for freedom and democracy, that makes people feel really good, especially journalists.”
Greenwald will appear Sunday on CNN’s Reliable Sources, scheduled to discuss the topic “media drumbeat to war.”