Americans save British hostage no one knew was missing (Another example of "yeah, but" journalism

Guardian Unlimited ^ | January 15, 2005 | David Smith of the Observer

[Thickman]

"The rescue was a rare slice of good fortune in Iraq, where yesterday Rizgar Amin, chief judge in the trial of Saddam Hussein, quit in protest at pressure from the Iraqi government on his court, which has already seen two defence lawyers murdered and witnesses threatened."

[Thickman]

Good news from Iraq. But another blatent example of "yeah but" journalism where the author or the editor feels it is necessary to mix in some bad news so that the reader understands that Iraq and everything going on there is in horrible shape.

The worst part is that the "yeah but" is thrown in with no context, support or reasoning as to why it is relevant "bad news".

[OldFriend]

A rare slice of good fortune?????????????????????????

Evidently not being consigned to the shredder is just one of those mundane benefits not worthy of celebration.

[mtbopfuyn]

Well, it is the Guardian.

[VOA]

Not to worry. Most journalists are still saying that Ronald Reagan
had little to do with the end of The Cold War and the disintegration
of the USSR.

[Thickman]

A rare slice of good fortune????????????????????????? Yes, another example of bias in the piece. I tell you, there is almost no "news" story written by AP, Rueters, NYT or any other major news bureau that is not written with this same exact formula. In fact, organizations such as the NYT actually give brief mention of the good news and then go on and on about all the other bad occurances. The worst part is that they never scratch the surface of all the good things that are actually going on, which IMO, far outnumber the negative events and trends in Iraq.

[xander]

It would be nice to see in print some gratitude to those that risked their neck to save his.

[armydawg1]

Had I busted in that house and found this guy to be a reporter, someone else would have had to save his ass.

I didnt see a thing......just another empty house.

[hershey]

He 'wasn't treated badly by his captors,' just threatened with beheading. Oh well. Yawn. Evil Americans rescued him, but he was really okay.

[Brit_Guy]

This is soooo strange. The story was reported in passing yesterday on the BBC. The Observer article you quote is about as left leaning as Pravda. Usually, when we have a hostage taken it is wall to wall news coverage, if one was rescued you would almost expect them to stop normal broadcasting to spread the news. Yet, in his native land this has attracted minimal or less coverage. There is much more to this than meets the eye.

[Thickman]

I was thinking the same thing. Wonder what is going on. The media did not notice that one of their own was missing?

[MNJohnnie]

Typical, kill a hostage front page above the fold news in the Junk Media. Rescue one and no one even mentions it in the US "News". Kind of makes you wonder just who's side the Junk Journalists REALLY are on?

[patriciaruth]

There is much more to this than meets the eye.

Was his name Bond?

[beaversmom]

That part cheesed me off too--although, if he did heap praises upon the Americans, you wouldn't read about it.

[Actually_in_Tokyo]

You said it. They should be ashamed of their writing, if nothing else.