Do you think there is a problem with this?

Question

Mr and Ms Tainish whos son was killed in Iraq was asked to give a interview to Bob Frankin, a reporter for CNN. At the end of the interview Mr Tainish (a major USMC in vietnam) asked Bob Frankin why they report so many negative stories and never mention the good that is happening. Bob Frankin answered "Where there is no fire there is no news, if it bleeds it leads" Ms Tainish followed up by asking "so you mean you only show the negative news which emboldens the enemies and creates more death of our soldiers" to which he replies "Thats not our problem its a democracy"

by problem I mean is the reporter right or are the parents right in being upset in this.

http://www.savage-productions.com/Letter_from_troop_family.html

Answer 1

Well, I hate to say this and risk the ire of liberal everywhere, but the fact is the parents are totally correct. The parents merely stated that the media only portrays one side of the story and that the side they portray is not only negative, but physically harmful. The media members conveniently forget that it is the public airways they use for the purpose and that the people, through their government, have the right to revoke the privelidge to a great extent. The media also forgets that with great power comes even greater responsibility and that in endangering troops and apposing the legitimate, legal actions of our government they endanger all of us and are therefor acting irrisponsibly. It would be a terrible thing for a soldier in Iraq to be forced to make the choice to shoot a jounalist from his own nation in order to protect the security of the men he serves with, it would also be both legally and morally justifiable if he were to choose to do so. Far to often civilians with little or no knowledge of the way the government and the military must operate step in and dictate what they feel must be done, most often to the detriment of our nation. This is not in the realm of legal dissent or freedom of information, this is security, plain and simple. I personally do not advocate that people give lightly of their freedoms in the name of security as I have noticed that historically those freedoms are not returned at wars' end. But on this issue we are not talking of personal freedoms as the media has proven that it exists to profit themselves, not the nation or it's people. By the way, the media, as a corporate entity such as the above named CNN, has no constitutional rights as it is not an individual human being with rights in the first place.

Answer 2

It's not the reporter's fault per se. It's America's fault. If we were satisfied with good news, that'd be what's on the news. However when it takes something like a suicide bomber to get our attention that's what gets reported. Look no further than yourself. If you saw that little Jimmy Wilson carried his old neighbor's groceries home, you'd turn the channel. But if you saw a slight river of blood in Iraq from suicide bombings at some university, you would look on and wait with bated breath to know what happened next. It's the sensationalism of American culture, the same can be said of television. Look at the dichotomy of current television to programs like 20 years ago. The shows now are pretty pornographic, vulgar and risque by comparison. News is just following suit.

Answer 3

Do you have a link for this story? Because if it's true, I will make sure it's plastered across every military site in existence by morning.

Edit to add: That reporter may have been well within his rights, but such insensitivity could sink a career... and maybe even a cable network. So, the reporter was wrong.

Answer 4

how is reporting the truth "emboldening" the enemies?

they know what they did.... they did it?

I don't agree so much with the "that's not our problem"... but I think the press has a responsibility to tell the truth... and I have seen several stories about what is good in Iraq on CNN...

but, people really don't want to know the "good news"...

why? because it's expected... it's expected that the U.S. does good things... but the bombings... those aren't expected... and the deaths caused by them are unexpected...

have you ever noticed... the most newsworthy items are the unexpected bad things? that's because that's what people want to know...

the terrorists killed the soldiers... blaming on the press is naive... do you think they would just walk away and give up if it wasn't reported? you clearly don't know who we're fighting if you think that...

Answer 5

CNN is a one sided story,only takes one episode of lou Dobbs to figure that out....I'm just not sure who's side their on sometimes

Answer 6

The Parents are correct and Bob Frankens response is why i have no problem hearing that a CNN reporter has been KILLED while lying in Iraq!