Mike McGee – 3/28/06

This page was last updated on March 29, 2006.

Coverage bias charge a ruse; Mike McGee; Beaver County Times; March 28, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I observe with amusement the latest tactic of the pro-war faction in this country to blame the media for unbalanced coverage of the Iraq war and the lack of reporting ‘good news.’”

[RWC] Who is the “pro-war faction?” I can’t speak for everyone, but I don’t believe it’s accurate to refer to people who support the Iraq War as being pro-war. None of us want a war.

It’s not just the “pro-war faction” that sees unbalanced coverage. I can’t find the link, but recently a New York Times reporter in Iraq conceded the media tended to report more of the bad than good, though he alleged it wasn’t intentional.

“I have one thought for them to ponder. If bombs were going off in Washington, D.C., with the frequency they do in Baghdad - that would be several daily - and groups of 15 or 20 executed people were being found on a daily basis in buildings and vehicles around the city, what to you think people including the media would be concerned about?

“It sure wouldn’t be the Cherry Blossom Festival.”

[RWC] This is the “if it bleeds it leads” defense. That is, the press always only reports bad news about everything so why should it be different about a war?

Is Mr. McGee really trying to equate Washington, DC, with Baghdad? I wonder what the outcome of World War II would have been if the press reported only deaths and casualties, sunk ships, and lost battles on a daily basis without also reporting the victories and progress.

For those of you who care to see what’s going on in Iraq that the mainstream media doesn’t want us to see, “Winning Iraq: The Untold Story” on Fox News Channel (Greg Palkot; December 3, 2005) was an eye opener. In the media I occasionally hear people who have visited Iraq claim the reporting we constantly hear bears little resemblance to what is really going on. “Winning Iraq” really drives that point home. It’s not a “rah, rah” piece; Palkot openly discusses the dangers in today’s Iraq. What sets the piece apart is that Palkot – who spent six weeks crisscrossing Iraq – also shows the good things going on. For example, did you know the liberal Brookings Institution reports the Iraqi standard of living has doubled since 2003, the Iraq economy is expected to grow 16.8% in 2006, and the post-war Iraq dinar has held its value better than the U.S. dollar?