Thursday, May 12, 2005
American Media Doesn't Think Iraq Carnage Important Enough To Cover
From ABC News The Note:
Brides gotta run, planes gotta stray, and cable news networks gotta find a way to fill a lot of programming hours as cheaply as possible. (CNBC gets to talk about the booming April retail sales numbers, and the NRA's television network will replay the Secretary of State on Larry King over and over.)
We say with all the genuine apolitical and non-partisan human concern that we can muster that the death and carnage in Iraq is truly staggering.
And/but we are sort of resigned to the Notion that it simply isn't going to break through to American news organizations, or, for the most part, Americans.
Democrats are so thoroughly spooked by John Kerry's loss —- and Republicans so inspired by their stay-the-course Commander in Chief —- that what is hands down the biggest story every day in the world will get almost no coverage. No conflict at home = no coverage.
Unfortunately, the smarmy Noters are right. The press isn't interested in covering Iraq anymore. They've moved on to other, more important, stories. But what strikes me as ironic is how the Noters kinda leave themselves and their own network from their media smackdown.
Couldn't ABC World News Tonight spend some time covering the Iraq carnage instead of doing a story about ducks that live on the White House grounds? Couldn't Good Morning America cancel one segment of make-up tips for mothers on the go and spend some time covering the Iraq carnage? Couldn't 20/20 choke John Stossel with his own mustache and spend some time covering the Iraq carnage instead of giving the Geraldo wanna-be a platform for his "Shame on You" crapola? Couldn't Primetime Live spend some time covering the Iraq carnage instead of doing an expose of American Idol?
Yeah, I bet ABC News could spend a little less time on the infotainment and give a little more air time to the Iraq carnage. Maybe if the souls of all of the ABC News employees weren't owned by Disney we would get those Iraq carnage stories. Instead we get the make-up tips from Charlie Gibson and the finger wagging from John Stossel.
So guess what, Noters? Dems may be spooked by Bush's stolen re-election, but even when they try to play like a real opposition party and hammer the administration on the war, you guys are too busy doing the American Idol blowjob exposes to run the story. For instance, has ABC even mentioned the Rycroft Memo, British government documents which prove that Bush and Blair had "made a secret decision to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein nearly a year before launching their attack, shaped intelligence to that aim and never seriously intended to avert the war through diplomacy"?
Nope. No mention of the Rycroft Memo on ABC. But they've got a follow-up on the Paula Abdul blowjob scandal over at American Idol. Whoo, hooo! You go, ABC!
Brides gotta run, planes gotta stray, and cable news networks gotta find a way to fill a lot of programming hours as cheaply as possible. (CNBC gets to talk about the booming April retail sales numbers, and the NRA's television network will replay the Secretary of State on Larry King over and over.)
We say with all the genuine apolitical and non-partisan human concern that we can muster that the death and carnage in Iraq is truly staggering.
And/but we are sort of resigned to the Notion that it simply isn't going to break through to American news organizations, or, for the most part, Americans.
Democrats are so thoroughly spooked by John Kerry's loss —- and Republicans so inspired by their stay-the-course Commander in Chief —- that what is hands down the biggest story every day in the world will get almost no coverage. No conflict at home = no coverage.
Unfortunately, the smarmy Noters are right. The press isn't interested in covering Iraq anymore. They've moved on to other, more important, stories. But what strikes me as ironic is how the Noters kinda leave themselves and their own network from their media smackdown.
Couldn't ABC World News Tonight spend some time covering the Iraq carnage instead of doing a story about ducks that live on the White House grounds? Couldn't Good Morning America cancel one segment of make-up tips for mothers on the go and spend some time covering the Iraq carnage? Couldn't 20/20 choke John Stossel with his own mustache and spend some time covering the Iraq carnage instead of giving the Geraldo wanna-be a platform for his "Shame on You" crapola? Couldn't Primetime Live spend some time covering the Iraq carnage instead of doing an expose of American Idol?
Yeah, I bet ABC News could spend a little less time on the infotainment and give a little more air time to the Iraq carnage. Maybe if the souls of all of the ABC News employees weren't owned by Disney we would get those Iraq carnage stories. Instead we get the make-up tips from Charlie Gibson and the finger wagging from John Stossel.
So guess what, Noters? Dems may be spooked by Bush's stolen re-election, but even when they try to play like a real opposition party and hammer the administration on the war, you guys are too busy doing the American Idol blowjob exposes to run the story. For instance, has ABC even mentioned the Rycroft Memo, British government documents which prove that Bush and Blair had "made a secret decision to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein nearly a year before launching their attack, shaped intelligence to that aim and never seriously intended to avert the war through diplomacy"?
Nope. No mention of the Rycroft Memo on ABC. But they've got a follow-up on the Paula Abdul blowjob scandal over at American Idol. Whoo, hooo! You go, ABC!
