Posted on 06/02/2004 8:35:49 PM PDT by quidnunc
Are the news media giving Americans an accurate picture of what's really going on in Iraq?
Not according to the American people, who say they've seen too many photos of Abu Ghraib prison abuses. A CBS News poll released on May 24 revealed that 61 percent of those polled believe the news media are spending too much time on the Abu Ghraib story. This jibes with what some of us on the editorial board have been hearing more and more: that average Americans believe the news media are obsessed with bad news from Iraq and aren't paying enough attention to the good things going on there.
We decided to search photo wire service archives for the past month, looking for images of U.S. soldiers engaged in helping Iraqis instead of shooting at them. We were startled to discover that the photo accompanying this text was the only image of its kind that moved on the wires in recent weeks. This newspaper's photo department told me that if news photographers aren't shooting those pictures, it's because media back home aren't interested in those stories.
Which justifies the reader complaints we've been hearing, does it not?
This is not necessarily an issue of media bias. It's extremely dangerous for journalists to be in Iraq now, which limits the number of photojournalists in the field. Are editors stateside more likely to risk the lives of their personnel to have them shoot battle scenes, or pictures of soldiers handing candy to Iraqi kids? It is understandable that breaking news eats up the limited journalistic resources on the ground, but this means that Americans are not getting the complete story from their media.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
bump
I have always had this question: If the press lies about someone, that is libel? If it is libel, they can be sued? If the press lies about someone in government, is that libel? If it is, can they be sued?
This may not be pertinent to this exact situation, but people like Clarke and Woodward would have a hard time lying. Also, if that's the case, wouldn't we have cleaner politics? I don't want to be naive, nevermind sound it, so can people tell me pros and cons if these were possible?
Media Schadenfreude and Media Shenanigans PING
The DOD has pictures I am sure they would be happy to share....Individual soldiers have sent them in emails,too. I suppose using a government source is bad?..
Bet Gary Senise's Iraqi Children org has some..There are pictures of soldiers passing out school supplies. There are pictures of medical clinics for civilians...I see them here frequently.
Good article snippet -- but I wish I didn't have to register to read the rest.
From the article "This is not necessarily an issue of media bias." I have to emphatically disagree with this statement.
What if Al Gore had been elected,(huge shudder) or what if we had a democrat president? Do you think the U. S. press would spend much time on a story such as this?
They are committed to publishing reports from Iraq that show the bad news.
Pure bullshit! Who doubts for an instant that the most powerful media mongouls wouldn't risk their own Mother's, in an effort to film anything at all negative about our troops and their mission in Iraq?
Can I see a showing of hands?.......ER, ....what comes before one?
This editorial to me seems to be a sort of a "get off our back" kind of article. They'll be back to reporting the bad stuff tomorrow, afterall, bad news is good news for the Democrats.
Nice to see a newspaper that's starting to get it. Thanks for the ping.
One story shouldn't get anyone's hope up. They'll finally get it when their subscribership base starts to dwindle. They are in the business of making money, and that's it.
Rod Dreher is a conservative and a frequent contributer to National Review.
They'd be too busy printing stories about the latest terrorist attack in Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, etc.
It could show up in the mainstream media, it just needs the right caption. How about "American soldier steals Iraqi school supplies. As usual, the children suffer..."
I've heard that U.S. reporters stay holed up in their Baghdad hotels most of the time while Arab stringers get the pics and interviews, naturally with an anti-American slant, which thrills the reporters and editors.
IIRC, the press can often weasel their way out of libel suits by claiming that the person is a public figure, which means higher standards for judging whether the lies have caused damage. It's very difficult to win a libel suit, and even more difficult if you're famous. Carol Burnett was a rare exception to the rule.
LOL! You are so right.
I'll bet FR's Diogenesis could find PLENTY to share with them...
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