In the second part of a series of interviews with The Real News, Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges details his criticism of the Iraq War and the news coverage leading up to it. He says it his belief that great reporters care about the truth above all.

“Every article they [The New York Times] wrote which was a lie about weapons of mass destruction, you know, being part of Saddam Hussein’s Iraq was technically fact-based. It was sourced, you know, senior intelligence officials say. I mean, it was double-checked with other intelligence officials. It was all within the rubric of American journalism, legitimate journalism. It just happened to be a lie,” Hedges says of the publication he left almost a decade ago. “And that is the difference between news and truth. And I think the really great reporters care about truth more than they do about news. They’re not the same thing.”

He continues: “Remember, as journalists, our job is to manipulate facts. I did it for many years. I can take any set of facts and spin you a story anyway you want. And if I’m very cynical, I can spin it in a way that I know is good for my career but is not particularly truthful to my reader. And I always attempted to convey to my reader the truth.”

Watch Part 1 of the interview here.

— Posted by Tracy Bloom.