Americans seek “the truth” about what is happening in Iraq. I’ve have many people tell me that they would like to “really” know what is going over here. Americans have a huge stake in this war, in blood and money, and they want to know whether the endeavor is worth the cost.
The main stream media (MSM) is not trusted to accurately report. MSM focuses too much on the bad news and destruction, it is said, and by failing to report the good new the MSM presents a skewed picture of what is happening here. Conservatives recently sent a “Truth Tour” to Iraq because they think the good news isn’t getting out.
What is the truth about this war? I’m reminded about the story of the five blind men and the elephant. Each feels part of the elephant, the tail, the ear, leg, truck or side, and each describes the elephant in those terms. It is like a snake, or flat and thin, or like a tree truck. Each is correct, for the small part of the elephant they’re trying to describe, but none has the full picture.
Likewise, the reporting here tends to be about small events, and seldom does a citizen have enough freedom of movement to get around and be able to report the big picture. Military leaders do have a much better view of the big picture, but won’t talk about it for fear of encouraging the Anti-Iraqi Forces or of irritating higher or political leadership.
The most comprehensive reporting I’ve seen is in the Stars and Stripes, Middle East Edition. The paper edition daily carries many pages of stories about this war, and more importantly, its reporters are out there with the troops. Our unit has been visited many times by S&S reporters, and the resulting stories seem accurate and balanced. The stories printed also seem balanced; not overly sunny and mindlessly supportive of the war, but not unfairly critical. It also has the most personal interest stories I’ve seen.
Of course, that may be because it is the only paper I see regularly. But I get to see CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, ABC, and many internet news sources. We do also get hometown newspapers, and of all those, the S&S paper version has the most complete picture. Also, it carries letters to the editor that really let you know what is on the soldiers’ minds. And they’re often funny, as when a Marine complained about fat soldiers, of course drawing a counterattack. Another fascinating string erupted when a soldier complained about praying in the chow hall and suggested that prayer ought to be saved for church. Letters are available online. www.stripes.com
If you want some good news stories, check out The Snakebite at http://www.idarng.com/snakebite.asp. This is a unit newsletter, one of many like it, and while it definitely supports the command message and is pretty upbeat, it also reports reconstruction stories that you don’t see in the MSM, as well as soldier personal interest items.
If you want to know what’s “really” going on in Iraq, you’ll have to work at it and assemble it yourself from many sources.
4 comments:
I am retired AirForce and it was funny to read about something that I believed over twenty years ago, that the best news I got was from the Stars and Stripes newspaper. I too, found the articles fair and balanced and not slanted toward the military as one might think. I remember when I retired from the military, someone asked me what newspaper gave the best coverage of the news, and I replied "The Stars and Stripes". They gave me a wierd look, like you gotta be kidding. Guess you had to read it to believe.
In these crazy partisan times your post is a breath of fresh air. I'd like to second Gerry on his comments regarding Stars and Stripes, I think one of the reasons it is quite balanced is that it reflects the full spectrum of opinion within the services itself. With the MSM there is a tendency to always want a 'message' which isn't condusive to adequately covering complexity. If its not black or white, us vs. them, right or wrong, the MSM is not interested. Complexity does not sell as many newspapers or advertisements.
Very interesting blog. I will follow your links
Alan: Email me, ok? I'm a national magazine writer for USA WEEKEND. (We're part of the USA Today family. But we run in more than 600 U.S. newspapers.)
Doing a cover on milblogs. Jarhead writer Anthony Swofford is writing a sidebar/essay. In the essay, he cites your blog as his favorite. I need more information about you to help flesh this out.
I also need to run by what he wrote about your blog to make sure it's accurate.
Email me at dmccaffe@usaweekend.com
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