So I’m lying in bed watching Anderson Cooper on CNN last night, May 28, as he was rehashing the Scott McClellan story when I had to sit up and take notice.

Because a mainstream journalist, CNN’s Jessica Yellin, began to make a startling confession, which to my mind was just as newsworthy as McClellan’s.

Here’s what she said:

“The press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives, frankly, to make sure that this was a war presented in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president’s high approval ratings,” she said.

She added: “The higher the president’s approval ratings, the more pressure I had from news executives—and I wasn’t at this network at the time—to put on positive stories about the President.”

Anderson Cooper seemed surprised at this, and asked a follow-up. Yellin answered: “They would turn down stories that were more critical, and try to put on pieces that were more positive.”

Michael Calderone at politico.com suggested that she was referring to her time at ABC.

But Jeffrey Schneider, a senior vice president at ABC, denied that. “Pay attention to Jessica Yellin’s blog,” he said. “My understanding is she’s going to say she was working for MSNBC at the time.”

Jessica Yellin’s blog was not posted at this writing, and she could not be reached for comment. MSNBC did not return a call.

Yellin’s revelations dovetail with similar remarks made several years ago by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour and CBS’s Dan Rather.

Christiane Amanpour said “the press self-muzzled” during the Iraq War.

And Dan Rather said the media engaged in “self-censorship” and that he feared being “necklaced” after 9/11 if he asked the tough questions. He called it “patriotism run amok.”

Now Yellin she seems to have caught the confessional bug from McClellan. And so much the better. Let’s get it all out there now.

How not only the White House but the mainstream media sold America a bill of goods on the Iraq War. A very costly bill of goods at that.

Addendum:

On Thursday afternnon, Yellin posted a blog on this issue.

Here is what it says, in its entirety.

Jessica Yellin
Congressional Correspondent

I find myself in an interesting position. Today the blogs lit up with comments I made last night on AC360° and suddenly I’m being reported on.

It’s not the most comfortable position for a reporter.

So let me clarify what I said and what I experienced.

First, this involved my time on MSNBC where I worked during the lead up to war. I worked as a segment producer, overnight anchor, field reporter, and briefly covered the White House, the Pentagon, and general Washington stories.

Also, let me say: no, senior corporate leadership ever asked me to take out a line in a script or re-write an anchor intro. I did not mean to leave the impression that corporate executives were interfering in my daily work; my interaction was with senior producers. What was clear to me is that many people running the broadcasts wanted coverage that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the country at the time. It was clear to me they wanted their coverage to reflect the mood of the country.

And now I’m going back to work covering the Puerto Rico primary from San Juan.