In an earlier post about the new nationwide Pentagon Channel, we pointed to the possible 1984-like consequences of a Department of Defense payed and edited national TV channel.

A fresh New York Times report on military TV emphasizes my concerns. 

Back January 24, the NYT business and media sections already had reported, but not criticized, the new channel.
Military Channels Are Competing on Cable TV.
(now locked up in the pay archive – a freed copy can be found in someones blog)

Americans want their military TV.
…
The Military Channel, the Military History Channel and the Pentagon Channel
are soliciting viewers with similar interests (war, for example) ..
…
The third military network, the Pentagon Channel, is run by the Department
of Defense and includes programs called "Army Healthwatch" and "In Step
With Fort Riley."
…
"Sometimes we have special features that educate and help the morale," [the Pentagon speaker] added, referring to archival footage from old battlefields, including clips
from the Korean War. ..
…
The Pentagon Channel should not pose a credible threat because it runs as a
public service without advertising. ..

Back then NYT’s concern was limited to advertising revenue and competition to private channels. There is "no credible threat" to be seen.

One probably would have hoped to read some more critical, liberal reflections in the paper of record.

Today the NYT again reports on a new nationwide military TV network. Now the article includes several quite critical voices.

It is "a very clumsy way" "to build pride in a country that badly needs it," says one critic. And it is "more important to show what is really happening". Another expert even opines that "television already has enough appeals to patriotism".

Thanks to the NYT reporter and his editors to have the stomach to cite such liberal voices, criticizing such military propaganda efforts.

Unfortunately this article is not in the national, but the international section. It is not about The Pentagon Channel in the United States but it critisizes Russia.

Red Star Over Russian Airwaves: Military TV Network.

Television in Russia these days is already compared to Soviet-like agitprop. So what to make of the country’s newest network?

On Feb. 20 the Defense Ministry plans to begin broadcasting its own national television channel called Zvezda, or Star, offering a blend of pride and patriotism, made in Russia.
…
The defense minister, Sergei B. Ivanov, recently said its purpose was to provide "effective informational and ideological influences," not least, he made clear, among those draft-age young men who now go to great lengths to avoid military service.
…
Zvezda’s imminent arrival has already stirred criticism of another lurch toward a Soviet-like past.

Vladimir Pozner, a prominent television host of one of the last remaining political talk shows, "Vremena" on First Channel, ridiculed the idea as a waste of money.
…
"It is supposed to build pride in a country that badly needs it," he said. "It is a very clumsy way to do it."

Irina Petrovskaya, television critic for the newspaper Izvestia, said Zvezda represented a resurgence of the state’s paternalistic attitudes toward its citizenry: " ‘We will show you how to love the Motherland.’ It is more important to show what is really happening in this country."

In her view, Russian television already has enough appeals to patriotism. "If they overdo it, the effect could be the opposite," she said. "Some people will just turn off their TV’s."

Lets hope people will really turn off their TV.

But until the reporters and editors of the NYT take off their US-centric glasses and reread and reflect 1984 and Matthew 7:3-5, their product may not be preferable either.