Global Policy Forum

By Howard Kurtz

If you put the First Amendment up for a nationwide vote, we're not so sure it would pass.

The press isn't real popular these days, with journalists often viewed as arrogant and rude, and as heartless as the killer sharks they sometimes hype during slow summer weeks. And when war breaks out, many folks believe that the people with pens and microphones should just get out of the way and let the soldiers do their jobs.

Never mind that the fourth estate provides a valuable check on administrations that try to stage-manage the news and claim that everything is just hunky-dory. Never mind that some information released by the Pentagon invariably turns out to be wrong, especially when smart bombs turn out to be dumb enough to hit the wrong targets. Never mind that media scrutiny has a way of keeping government officials honest.

If we go to war against Iraq -- which seems more likely after yesterday's discovery of empty chemical warheads -- many readers and viewers are going to regard critical stories as unpatriotic.

Which is why a new poll on the media and the military is downright sobering, at least from a journalistic point of view.

Here's our report:

Two-thirds of the public believes the government should have the right to stop the media from disclosing military secrets, says an ABC News poll released yesterday.

Fifty-six percent of those surveyed also say news organizations are more obliged to support the government in wartime than to question the military's handling of the war.

The poll, done for a "Nightline" town meeting airing tonight, reflects the widespread view that press freedoms, including the First Amendment's ban on prior restraint, should give way to Pentagon preferences in wartime. The findings, which mirror those during the Persian Gulf War, come at a time of widespread leaks about the Bush administration's plans for a possible war with Iraq.

Such findings could bolster the administration's efforts to tightly restrict the flow of information about the showdown with Iraq. "Whether the public supports everything the press does, it is our free press that distinguishes us from any other country on the planet," said John McWethy, ABC's Pentagon correspondent. "In time of war, it gets a heck of a lot tougher for reporters to do their jobs. There are more restrictions, especially with this administration, on difficult-to-find information."

Pentagon spokeswoman Torie Clarke said she doesn't see a conflict between military secrecy and robust coverage, which her department hopes to provide by assigning reporters to travel with combat units.

"Information about military operations can do grave damage to the mission and put people's lives at risk," Clarke said. "I think the press understands the need for operational secrecy and not putting people's lives at risk."

Overall, the ABC poll says, six in 10 Americans say the government's ability to keep wartime secrets in more important than a free press, while 34 percent disagreed. Even in peacetime, 28 percent say the government should have the right to control what information the media report.

But journalists received high marks for their coverage of the current buildup against Baghdad. Thirteen percent say the media have been too supportive of the Bush administration, 17 percent say they have been too critical and 61 percent say "about right."

The findings break down along partisan lines. While 65 percent of Republicans say the government's ability to keep wartime secrets is essential, only 47 percent of independents and 38 percent of Democrats agree. Similarly, 44 percent of Republicans say the media should be more questioning than supportive of goverment, compared to 60 percent of independents and 67 percent of Democrats.

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