[Yardstick]

Wow, good stuff. Whoever wrote the memo is sharp as a tack and has got the media’s methods pegged. Just another reason to love the Marines, and for the media to hate them.

[Girlene]

Whoever wrote the memo is sharp as a tack and has got the media’s methods pegged.

That's exactly what I was thinking. They sure were prescient!

One common tactic used by reporters is to spin a story in such a way that it is easily recognized and remembered by the general population through its association with an event that the general population is familiar with or can relate to. For example, McGirk’s story will sell if it can be spun as “Iraq’s My Lai massacre.”