IN NAJAF: A SUCCESS STORY

New York Post ^ | September 26, 2003 | ERIC KNAPP

[OESY]

My friends and family back in the states are frustrated because every time Najaf - the city in southern Iraq where my unit has been stationed - is in the news, the reports are of conflict between the U.S. forces and armed militias. To hear the media tell it, America has done nothing to improve the infrastructure or security, and the Iraqi public is volatile and seeking revenge.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

ping

[Coop]

Awesome story. But what I find so disturbing is that here on FR - where we understand the bias toward bad news - this thread has been posted for about a half hour and this is its second reply. But if it had been about more devastation, we'd probably be approaching 100 posts by now.

[MontanaBeth]

I just signed on and slowly making my way down the list, this is great news!

[July 4th]

The problem is that these are the reports we've always believed, so it's like "old news". When some devastating story comes on FR, half the posts are ripping on the biased press.

[niteowl77]

this thread has been posted for about a half hour and this is its second reply

It's all in the timing.

It is really disheartening to see our soldiers doing their job in Iraq, only to see them turning around and taking the time to try and undo the damage from the media's attacks. I thought I disliked the media before, but it was nothing like I feel now.

[boxerblues]

Sad but true, but I think most of us have been trying to got out the word on the pay raises. I know I bounce in and out all day long

[Coop]

I thought I disliked the media before, but it was nothing like I feel now.

You've got that right. I absolutely despise most in the media now! It's one thing when they're advancing their little liberal and Dem causes and counting wins/losses during elections. But to intentionally ignore good news while highlighting bad news -thereby demoralizing troops, putting them at more risk by encouraging the terrorists, and increasing the pain of family members - it's just absolutely sickening.

[Theo]

bump ...

[OESY]

Awesome story. But what I find so disturbing is that here on FR - where we understand the bias toward bad news - this thread has been posted for about a half hour and this is its second reply. But if it had been about more devastation, we'd probably be approaching 100 posts by now.

I agree with you, but what I find disturbing is what I have witnessed on a number of networks like CNBC, MSNBC and CNN: an almost gleeful reporting of deaths of US Forces in Iraq. For instance, this morning Dara Brown, the pretty-faced airhead newsreader on CNBC, after reporting American deaths, then said: "On a sad note, singer Robert Palmer died." The contrast in sentiment could not have been more stark nor more revealing of her true sentiments.

Dara left the show today for maternity leave. I wish her better wishes for her health and the well-being of her baby than she has expressed for our fallen soldiers and their grieving families over the months she has been reading the news.

What galls me is how close CNBC's posture has been to the Democrat campaign strategy to oppose everything President Bush proposes, whether it be a stimulus for the economy or funding for our troops and the rebuilding of Iraq. Ellen Ratner, Democratic consultant, said it most succinctly: "We hope Bush messes up in Iraq", meaning maximum casualties. Ratner later apologized, even as the strategy was being implemented, apparently with full participation by some networks.

[Coop]

It's disgusting, no doubt.

Yet here your good-news thread sits, with little apparent interest.

[dogbrain]

BUMP!

I'm interested!

[ladtx]

related thread

[Yardstick]

Well, I lap up these good news stories like milk, and I'm sure many others do too. Stories that anger are probably more likely to get comments than stories that report good news.

I'm sticking a bookmark in this one because it's so well-written and detailed, and because it mentions the results of the Marine's polling in Najaf.

Over the past week, the New York Post has run quite a few "good news" stories and stories critical of the media's quagmirist, failurist slant. It seems to be making an effort towards balancing things and pointing out the misleading incompleteness of the reporting on Iraq.

[Coop]

Stories that anger are probably more likely to get comments than stories that report good news.

I'd tend to agree, but that's what translates into better ratings for the bad news.

Hey, I love these feel-good stories as well. I just wish they'd get more exposure.

[Yardstick]

You know, it'd be intesting if there were a "click counter" of some sort at the tops of the threads, something that kept track of how many times it'd been viewed. Then we'd know if a thread with few comments was being ignored, or if it was just a "read only" thread.

[Coop]

FR used to have that feature, but it was removed (probably to make room for other gadgets and improve performance).

[Yardstick]

I'll be darned -- been here for nearly four years and never noticed it.