Would you prefer media to not talk about the war in Iraq?

Question

Won't people start wondering about EVERYTHING else in america? My guess is the cons benefit from the coverage...it looks like OUR president is doing something, and it gives them something else to blame on dems. What do you think? Should they stop talking about it?

leogirl, I'm not talking about all republicans. I'm talking about the ones that blame the liberal media. I chose my words correctly. Now, can you answer my question, without resorting to namecalling?

rand, they reported the death of al zarqawi, they reported handing over power to Iraq just today? WHat news are you guys watching?

Answer 1

Allow me to frame my response based on more than 20 years in broadcast news.

First and foremost, I am an advocate of a free press.
As its been said, if the news media can't tell you the facts of what is going on, who really will?

However, I am also a stanch supporter of our military (and let me make clear that these troops should NOT be in Iraq...someone really screwed up on that decision).

If I were a Pentagon employee in charge of media relations, I would have BANNED the so-called "embedded" reporters and photographers from going out with the troops in Iraq.

For that matter, I would have told all news media that they are on their own and to expect no protection from the military.
Our guys & gals in uniform have a job to do (right or wrong) and can't be spending time protecting journalists.

The average journalist can risk their own life to get the story.
The military doesn't own them anything.
For that matter, the journalist should thank the military for protecting freedom of the press.

But the news media should not stop reporting on the war.
The average American should know, NEEDS to know what is going on.
And that includes daily body count as well as the feel-good reports, when our troops do something positive.

Answer 2

As some have eluded to, it's sometimes what is NOT reported that is the problem. The selective reporting by the media is just one form of the bias many talk about. For example:

"4 Troops Killed In Action Today!"

Ok, maybe so. But why didn't the article/newscaster report that 35 militants were killed and that two truckloads of weapons were seized?

That's the kind of selective hearing/reporting the media should be called on. All they want to do is gather ratings, and sometimes the boring truth doesn't do that. Too much "If it bleeds, it leads".

Answer 3

I would like to know what people are doing over there, but I guess it's not really good to tell us that, because some of us could be terrorists. What I'm sure I DON'T want to know is how many soldiers died that day, and how and all that jazz. Imagine if they had tried that with any of the other wars.
'Oh, 1,000 soldiers died today in France, that makes a total of 10,000 lost in the past week.'
Look at wars like WWI and WWII, the losses of today's wars are grains of sand compared to the losses from those wars.
If anything, I think Republicans are suffering because of the coverage, although I don't think anyone really cares about that. I think they should at least balance the bad with the good that I've been told they are doing over there.
We blame video games, and entertainment TV shows for young people's violence because we KNOW they don't watch the news...

Answer 4

My answer is no. We have a free press in this country, they can report what they choose so long as it doesn't violate national security. I see a lot of bias in the press these days, but it exists on both sides of the political spectrum. Most of us can find news which plays to our particular sensibilities, and if we don't like what the other side is reporting we don't have to watch or listen. Now having said that I also feel compelled to say that it saddens me that truth is the real casualty in modern media. I see too many instances where opinion is reported as fact, or facts are under reported to support a particular agenda. We as Americans all suffer because of this, and it is a great disservice.

Answer 5

They should report facts and stop presetning their opinions as facts. I think "newscasters" need to change their title to "opinionists." We never get the truth. Everyone reports the same events in different ways.

For example: "there were no wmds in Iraq" is NOT a fact.

The fact was "there were no wmds FOUND in Iraq by the UN."

That is quite different from the first statement which is held as fact, which it is not.

"Hussein used wmds on the Kurdish Iraqiis" is a fact. This also defies the first statement.

The press thinks it has a story and will bend facts to broadcast it. It's sick and irresponsible.

Answer 6

I'd like for them to do it in a factual non objective fashion. Tell us what's happening good & bad. There's never anything good - it is always bad and slanted to discredit the administration. How about stop counting troop deaths and start telling how many terrorist are being killed and caputured. Tell us when Iraqis graduate from military and police schools to take control of thier own country. Show CSPAN coverage of their political debates. I don't care just report the truth - if it is good for the admin, great - if it is bad for the admin, great! Just report and let us decide.

Answer 7

I would prefer the destruction of Fox News and Murdoch to be thrown out of this country. Then I want the media to grow a pair of balls to stand up for facts instead of profit which is why we need them to begin with. If the media did their job and investigated in the first place we would not be in a war.
And one more thing.........
Leogirl - you have to be the dumbest piece of sh it walking the planet. And I am a republican who knows that blind faith in bad leadership is not patriotism...its stupidity....a function your answers prove time and time again. MORON.

Answer 8

No, but I do prefer they stay away from tabloid type trash like Jon Bonet and Tom Cruise's baby. Who the hell cares, I want more in depth reporting about what is actually happening in our government and our country's affairs around the world. BTW, Republicans ***** n' complain about the dead soldier stats (I for one would like to know how many of our kids are being killed in this invasion) and claim they support freedom of speech when they have a President who will not allow a photo of our soldier's coffins. Who controls the media?

Answer 9

How does the President benefit from losing a war?
How would ANYONE benefit from ignoring the place where many hundreds of Americans have died and are dying, and where a huge proportion of our national budget is effectively being wasted?
I would prefer the media not to talk about famous people's babies or missing college girls.
I would prefer them to investigate and ask real questions about something incidental, like, oh, I don't know, a WAR.

Reporting the numbers of casualties is not partisan. It's human decency.

Answer 10

I want them to keep talking about it, I just want them to stop lying about it. They do not need to embellish or stick there opinion in there as fact. News is just that, news. I dont care what Joe Blows opinion is. Why does the media think that there opinion is so good that it is really news. Just report the story and let me form my own opinion.