Livin' in the Twilight Zone

This is just too creepy:
Quoting from a Time Magazine Article:

George Bush knew Vladimir Putin would be defensive when Bush brought up the pace of democratic reform in Russia in their private meeting at the end of Bush’s four-day, three-city tour of Europe. But when Bush talked about the Kremlin’s crackdown on the media and explained that democracies require a free press, the Russian leader gave a rebuttal that left the President nonplussed. If the press was so free in the U.S., Putin asked, then why had those reporters at CBS lost their jobs? Bush was openmouthed. “Putin thought we’d fired Dan Rather,” says a senior Administration official. “It was like something out of 1984.”

The Russians did not let the matter drop. Later, during the leaders’ joint press conference, one of the questioners Putin called on asked Bush about the very same firings, a coincidence the White House assumed had been orchestrated. The odd episode reinforced the Administration’s view that Putin’s impressions of America are often based on urban myths fed to him by ill-informed aides ...

For a long time now I've wondered why it is that US media seems so anti-American, particularly during wartime. It certainly wasn't like that during WWII. It seems to have started during the Vietnam War, and it was subtle for most of the 30 years since, but since the 2000 Presidential elections media bias has become very noticable even for those not really paying close attention. The Dan Rather incident made it pretty obvious even to the casual observer. Could it be, is it possible, that this anti-America media bias is the result of careful planning? Might the KGB have had something to do with it?