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(This article originally appeared in the December 2001/January 2002 issue of Ms. magazine.) A free, independent and critical press is never more crucial than in wartime, when millions of lives and the course of history can turn on small bits of information. But since the Sept. 11 attacks, corporate media outlets have been busy doing what News Corp owner Rupert Murdoch called their “patriotic duty”: waving the flag, toeing the government’s line, and ceding their major editorial judgment calls to Condoleezza Rice and other administration bigwigs. These insiders have pressured news executives to suppress information ranging from Al Qaeda statements and security details to public health data available under the Freedom of Information Act.