NationStates Jolt Archive

Think about everything you’ve heard about the conditions in Iraq, the role of U.S. forces, the multi-layered complexities of the war.

Then think again. (http://newsminerextra.com/iraq/blog/considering-another-side_26)

I’m a journalist. I read the news everyday, from several sources. I have the luxury of reading stuff newspapers don’t always have room to print. I read every tidbit I could on Iraq and the war before coming.

Everything I thought I knew was wrong.

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The above was written on a blog of a reporter who thought he had an idea about how the war in Iraq was going until he actually went there and was Embedded with the 172nd Stryker Brigade!

Now he understands what the media is doing, and so should you all.

They don't report news to you every day because they feel you need to know. They do it because they get paid for it, and when you see all the Pulitzers going to the reporters unveiling the slimiest and most horrible of things in humanity, it goes to reason that that's what the reporters will go for.

Our media sucks, people. We need to fix it somehow. Not by stifling free press in any way, but by rewarding those who choose to give us the whole story, and not just what will get them the most money.

Think about everything you’ve heard about the conditions in Iraq, the role of U.S. forces, the multi-layered complexities of the war.

Then think again. (http://newsminerextra.com/iraq/blog/considering-another-side_26)

I’m a journalist. I read the news everyday, from several sources. I have the luxury of reading stuff newspapers don’t always have room to print. I read every tidbit I could on Iraq and the war before coming.

Everything I thought I knew was wrong.

--------------------------------------------------------


The above was written on a blog of a reporter who thought he had an idea about how the war in Iraq was going until he actually went there and was Embedded with the 172nd Stryker Brigade!

Now he understands what the media is doing, and so should you all.

They don't report news to you every day because they feel you need to know. They do it because they get paid for it, and when you see all the Pulitzers going to the reporters unveiling the slimiest and most horrible of things in humanity, it goes to reason that that's what the reporters will go for.

Our media sucks, people. We need to fix it somehow. Not by stifling free press in any way, but by rewarding those who choose to give us the whole story, and not just what will get them the most money.
unfortunatly, they (media) thinks that hearing that US soldiers are making friends, that the infrastructure is being repaired and brought up to standards and that people's lives are improving is not as "popular" as hearing another bombing that killed people, or that the people in charge are wrong.

I would rather hear about the good things in life to give people hope that the world isn't as bad as the news tends to make it.

unfortunatly, they (media) thinks that hearing that US soldiers are making friends, that the infrastructure is being repaired and brought up to standards and that people's lives are improving is not as "popular" as hearing another bombing that killed people, or that the people in charge are wrong.

I would rather hear about the good things in life to give people hope that the world isn't as bad as the news tends to make it.
Things that NZ specialises in.
Repairing Roads,Bridges waterworks and building Schools.

So what exactly do you people expect from your media?

Disregard the bombings, and the fanaticism, and the fact that so many areas still don't have power and running water 24/7, and instead bringback the good old "Why we fight" reports from WWII?

Why do you think it is the job of the media to report tiny things, which really have no bearing on the development of Iraq, on a continous basis? Hell, I'm not in the US, and yet I see reports about nice things that happen in Iraq all the time.

It really is more important if a suicide bomber blows up a police station than if Allied forces get a school somewhere in Sadr City back open.

Now he understands what the media is doing, and so should you all.

They don't report news to you every day because they feel you need to know. They do it because they get paid for it, and when you see all the Pulitzers going to the reporters unveiling the slimiest and most horrible of things in humanity, it goes to reason that that's what the reporters will go for.

Our media sucks, people. We need to fix it somehow. Not by stifling free press in any way, but by rewarding those who choose to give us the whole story, and not just what will get them the most money.

I do agree with some of what you're talking about, but I'm getting a bit tired of the "the media only reports the bad news in Iraq". Frankly, that's not my impression, but that might be because I find it easy to reading multiple sources.

But of course it won't make the headlines that some troops have made friends with some Iraqis, or that reconstruction is going as planned in some regions of the country. (Of course it could reach the headlines, but then it probably would sound like this: "White House actually manages to do something right for a change! Really!" :rolleyes: )

But Iraq isn't a land of kittens and rainbows. At least five Iraqis and a U.S. soldier were killed in violence in Iraq on the 25th of desember, while there were protests in the streets over election results. Tensions are high. Carbombs, mortar attacks, abductions that threaten what little stability there is in the country, US airstrikes on insurgents in residential areas killing a disputed number of civillians - this is what you can read in the news this holiday. But you can also find the "sunshine stories" like the ones mentioned in the blog - but you will of course not find them on the front pages or in the headlines, where they (unfortunently) don't belong.

But what is the whole story, as you would reward? Surely it can't be when the soldiers are doing their job right. The whole story, as I see it, is when the news are reported as objectivly and as factually accurate as possible, and doesn't omit "the bad news" nor "the good news".

By the way, an example of "good news" is that the last election seems to have been a succsess as there was a large turnout of voters. That a soldier comments on the status of women in the Iraqi culture in a respectful, friendly and buddy-buddy manner is not "good news" to me, it's a fulfillment of my lowest expectations of a professional soldier and does not belong in the headlines.

I hope I've made my point, as this was written rather quickly. :)

[/rant]