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Falsely Bleak News Reporting09/29/2003 Two events this week shattered these carefully constructed images: Zogby and Gallup polls shed some light on how Iraqi citizens really feel and a Democrat from Georgia wrote truthfully about his recent visit to Iraq. Let's have a closer look: Zogby conducted a poll for American Enterprise magazine in several Iraqi cities, excluding Baghdad. They discovered that seven out of ten Iraqi citizens are hopeful about their future: They believe both their country and their personal lives will be better within five years. A second poll, conducted by Gallup of citizens of Baghdad and more widely publicized in the news media, discovered that more than 60% believe that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was worth the personal hardship that they had suffered since the U.S. invasion. This time, 67% believe that things will improve in their country within five years. Against this backdrop, U.S. Representative Jim Marshall (D-GA), wrote a startling op-ed for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that ran headlong opposite of "conventional wisdom". "I'm afraid the news media are hurting our chances. They are dwelling upon the mistakes, the ambushes, the soldiers killed, the wounded, the Blumbergs [a solder who was killed]. Fair enough. But it is not balancing this bad news with 'the rest of the story,' the progress made daily, the good news. The falsely bleak picture weakens our national resolve, discourages Iraqi cooperation and emboldens our enemy." Rep. Marshall, a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a combat veteran of Vietnam, recently visited Iraq. And he sees the news reports as "falsely bleak". This past week we have heard all manner of excuses from the media. Various reporters claim that it is the nature of the beast to focus crisis and conflict. We've heard the old saw, "If it bleeds, it leads". An even flimsier excuse is that news organizations don't have adequate reporting staff in Iraq to cover both bad and good news. Whatever the reason, it still has the very negative effect of disinforming the public. Here is where we get down to brass tacks: I believe that many reporters, anchors and their bosses have a vested interest in that disinformation campaign. Conventional political wisdom has held that President Bush had to accomplish two things in order to win re-election in 2004: The first is improvement in the economy. The second is a positive outcome in Iraq. With the economy slowly on the mend, many Democrats have pinned their hopes on bad news from Iraq. They believe that if they can show that the president has really blown it in Iraq, they can put one of their own in the White House in '04. With almost too much enthusiasm, the Propaganda Ministry began grinding out alarmist talk of quagmires, poor planning, occupation, and Iraqi resentment. Politics aside, how horrible for the soldiers' families to be assaulted daily with this constant negativism in the media! I applaud Rep. Marshall for having the moral courage to call for balanced reporting. Please join me in thanking him. The contact information is below. Rep. Jim Marshall Macon Office: Washington Office: Email: Write your representative (enter 31201 zip code) Read more here: Media's Dark Cloud of Danger When you feel your personal media bias tolerance gauge rising into the red zone, don't throw stuff at the TV screen! Send your suggestion to outrage@fairpress.org! Each week, one hideous example of media bias will be selected for closer examination. Hmmmmmm . . .
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