BUSH WHITE HOUSE, MEDIA BATTLE IN 'NEWS WAR'.

Byline: David Kronke

Television Critic

Rarely in modern history has a White House had such a contentious relationship with the press corps that covers it.

The days of transparency in governance are long over - if, in fact, they ever existed - and, as "News War," a four-part "Frontline" report suggests, revealing the covert activities of those in power can be hazardous to a journalist's career.

Polls today suggest that most Americans believe the war with Iraq was a grievous mistake, and much blame lies with the media, who didn't spend enough time in advance examining evidence that suggested the weapons of mass destruction didn't exist, that worried Donald Rumsfeld's strategy portended disaster, that forecast a long, grisly slog due to rival factions within the country.

As media critic Jay Rosen asks, "How can one say that we have a watchdog press after a performance like that?" But the Bush administration, rather than insisting upon some kind of accountability, seems determined to further muzzle journalists simply doing their jobs.

"News War" opens tonight with the first of two episodes titled "Secrets, Sources & Spin," with series correspondent Lowell Bergman (a former "60 Minutes" producer who was part of the story that became the film "The Insider") taking a look at the outing of Valerie Plame as a covert CIA operative.

It underscores the through-the-looking-glass misadventure journalism has become: Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald subpoenaed a number of journalists and demanded they reveal their sources for the story 7/8 something reporters are loath to do, because their promise of confidentiality is what often gets the most urgent information. It even jailed one, former New York Times reporter Judith Miller (whom many considered to be in the administration's back pocket). She says tonight, "I didn't feel that I had anything to apologize for with my WMD coverage."

And yet, Fitzgerald's efforts have given observers a far clearer glimpse into the inner workings of the Bush administration than any reporter had heretofore managed. Ironically, one of those interviewed tonight is Washington Post veteran Bob Woodward, who made investigative journalism sexy with his Watergate reporting but who initially scoffed at Plamegate and considered Fitzgerald's actions over-the-top. After two admiring books of Bush, Woodward's most recent, "State of Denial," eviscerated the current White House.

Next week, Bergman ties two blockbuster government leaks - the Washington Post's investigation into secret overseas CIA prisons and The New York Times' revelation that the government was eavesdropping on ordinary Americans - to the celebrated Pentagon Papers case of the '70s. In both cases, the White House warned the papers' editors that running their stories would compromise national security; in both cases, the editors felt that the White House was actually more concerned with covering its tracks.

Future episodes (unavailable for review) examine how financial considerations influence news coverage and how overseas reporting differs from, or, perhaps, influences American journalism.

Bergman treads lightly around his principal thesis, which is: The Bush administration is bullying journalists who report that which it doesn't want reported. The New Yorker's media reporter Ken Auletta, who spent a few months inside the Bush White House, encountered a pervasive attitude that the media have no legitimacy when it comes to public debate. The Post's Dana Priest, who broke the CIA prison story, gingerly suggests that the White House would like to "intimidate the major media into just leaving this area (of investigative journalism)."

Pat Buchanan, speechwriter during the Nixon administration and now a political analyst for MSNBC, notes, "The battle between the White House and the national media is the battle over who controls the national agenda."

Meanwhile, Americans have spoken on the national agenda: Recently, 58 percent of those polled said they wished the Bush presidency would end now. Meanwhile, though the press has grown a belated conscience and spine when it comes to questioning the administration's heated rhetoric, it's pilloried by both the right and the left.

And the war in Iraq rages on, despite overwhelming dissatisfaction with its results. The trendy phrase describing the current atmosphere is "outrage fatigue." No one, but no one, is the winner here.

David Kronke, [phone]

[e-mail]

NEWS WAR - Three stars

What: "Frontline" investigative series on the government's clash with the fourth estate.

Where: KCET.

When: 9 tonight, also 9 p.m. Feb. 20 and 27 and March 27.

In a nutshell: Sobering debate on the power of the First Amendment.

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KCET's "News War" examines the Bush administration's increasingly contentious relationship with the media. The four-part series begins tonight.