Everything is Peaches and Cream in Iraq
This is the premise of Mark Yost's article in the Pioneer Press on July 12. His take on things is that the MSM (Mainstream Media) believes that "the U.S. is "bad," our enemies "understandable" if not downright "good" and they distort stories to conform to their warped value system. Yost questions why there has not been stories about a "desalination plant that just came on-line, or the school that just opened, or the Iraqi policeman who died doing something heroic?" Well I can answer these his convoluted claims and questions.
The news media reports on abnormalities in our world. Whether it be the attacks on the World Trade Centers to the local bank robbery to Lance Armstrong overcoming cancer and winning the Toure de France the extraordinary is always reported. An event such as the Iraqi desalination plant coming online or a school opening is mundane, ordinary, and expected. Why should the NY Times or CNN waste time describing the new school opening in Mosul when a suicide bomber kills 99 people in Baghdad? I personally find reporting a bombing that takes the lives of 99 men, women, and children to be much more relevant and important than a school opening. It is expected that the United States rebuild Iraq.
To say the MSM never reports positive events is misleading. Who could forget the stories of heroism after 9/11 or the extensive coverage of the Iraqi elections? The main problem with MSM reporting lies not in too much negativism, but with reporting the ridiculous and unimportant. The coverage given to the "runaway bride" was absurdly long and much too in-depth. The problem with news is that it does not have enough investigative reporting or real stories.
Casualties in Iraq number 1,949 coalition troops alone killed, while Iraqi deaths are estimated as of July 17, 2005 to be at 22850. People dying are more important than school openings.
A wonderful quote from Andrew Sullivan:
The news media reports on abnormalities in our world. Whether it be the attacks on the World Trade Centers to the local bank robbery to Lance Armstrong overcoming cancer and winning the Toure de France the extraordinary is always reported. An event such as the Iraqi desalination plant coming online or a school opening is mundane, ordinary, and expected. Why should the NY Times or CNN waste time describing the new school opening in Mosul when a suicide bomber kills 99 people in Baghdad? I personally find reporting a bombing that takes the lives of 99 men, women, and children to be much more relevant and important than a school opening. It is expected that the United States rebuild Iraq.
To say the MSM never reports positive events is misleading. Who could forget the stories of heroism after 9/11 or the extensive coverage of the Iraqi elections? The main problem with MSM reporting lies not in too much negativism, but with reporting the ridiculous and unimportant. The coverage given to the "runaway bride" was absurdly long and much too in-depth. The problem with news is that it does not have enough investigative reporting or real stories.
Casualties in Iraq number 1,949 coalition troops alone killed, while Iraqi deaths are estimated as of July 17, 2005 to be at 22850. People dying are more important than school openings.
A wonderful quote from Andrew Sullivan:
The job of the media, even in wartime, is to relay facts, not to skew coverage for purposes of morale.
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