Entrenched in partisanship, media is missing compelling stories - the children of Kurdistan Iraq

www.RenewAmerica.us ^ | September 27, 2004 | Steven T. Voigt

[J Apple]

Major media needs resuscitation. Entrenched in political partisanship, left-wing big media is failing to tell many of the stories of our day. Too often, wittingly or otherwise, journalists miss important stories that will educate and inspire.

Digging to find real stories takes work. Today, the preferred method of reporting is something akin to tabloid journalism — day after day, hawking rumors and gossip and spotlighting bungled lines in political speeches. This is the easy way to get words on a paper or to fill airtime, but the RatherGate scandal illustrates that this type of journalism polarizes and does not advance public discussion.

As I consider the sad state of our media, I dwell on the cause of it all. Most journalists subsist in a far left wing cocoon, sequestered from the world in mammoth buildings in big cities. Regardless of the ideas that aspiring journalists bring with them when they enter the door to those colossal landmarks, sooner or later almost all of them buy into left-leaning political partisanship and cynical gamesmanship.

Good stories are out there, but to find those stories, our media must open its eyes and abandon partisanship. For example, night after night we see pictures from Iraq showing terrorists and the torture of hostages. For sure, some parts of Iraq remain unstable, but there are other stories to be told. Many parts of Iraq are now beginning to flourish with hope, freedom, and economic promise. We never see this on television; we never read about it in the newspaper. What a shame!

Readers of my column who reside in Iraq are able to provide me with first-hand accounts of the situation there, and their portrayal is entirely contrary to what I see on television.

For the first time in decades, children in Kurdistan Iraq (the northern part of Iraq brutalized by Saddam Hussein) are able to go to school, learn, play, and to simply be children, without worrying about chemical attacks and concentration camps. I have seen pictures of these smiling and happy children. I have also read promising reports from aid workers in the region.

In a recent email, David, an aid worker and educator in northern Iraq, explained his daily routine:

"School starts on Saturday and I will fall more into routine as I work with a team between the primary and secondary schools, working with teachers in 45 minute time periods each day on lesson plans, curriculum development, and relationship building . . . I've loved my time so far with each of the administrators and teachers and I look forward to our picnic next week (don't be fooled. Kurds take picnicking very seriously. This will be an all day, 6am-9pm activity, complete with lots of food, lots of Kurdish dancing, more food, then more dancing, resting, then on again . . ..)."

Sounds like good things are happening, right? Well, why do we not hear about it? Later in his email, David explained the newfound hope for those living in Kurdistan Iraq.

"Iraqi Kurdish families are moving back home after living abroad for up to twenty years because they see a hope for their nation. Relationships go deep, hospitality is overwhelming, and I'm quickly becoming friends with several Iraqi men, women, and families. There's not a day that I don't see people inflicted with physical deformities, a missing hand, ear, leg, arm, burn scars, a limp. And it's a pretty fair (and often correct) assumption that these inflictions were caused by Saddam Hussein and his men. Saddam's old prisons and old Baath party houses dot the landscape between cities. When my team, the teachers, and administration stood in a circle to introduce ourselves and tell how many siblings we had, one teacher introduced himself and added that two of his brothers had been killed by Saddam. All a reminder of what this country struggles to recover from and the hope that pushes them forward."

I am just a regular guy without the resources of major media. If I can stumble across stories that merit portrayal, it is hard to imagine that major media cannot do the same. David should have a flock of reporters around him. Those children in Kurdistan should too.

I believe it is time for the big media stations to take a long, very long vacation. They all need to do some serious reflection and then take a solemn pledge to be objective when providing the news and balanced when offering commentary, even if it pains them.

In the meantime, I implore you to ignore the far-left liberal reporters who will ceaselessly try to make you feel guilty for being an American. They are only conveying their gloomy upside-down view of the world, wherein the usually inept U.N. (with member states such as Syria — a state sponsor of terrorism — and Sudan — where slavery is legal and militants are committing genocide against Christians — enjoy the same clout as Australia and Italy) [1] is the somehow the world's salvation and the U.S. is always wrong.

Let me tell you what I believe. From the depths of my heart, I love this land and I firmly believe and know that America is truly the beacon of hope to the rest of the world. America is not a perfect nation, but it is indeed a lighthouse for those who suffer under tyranny and terror. To confirm this, we need only ask David, the aid worker in Kurdistan; we need only ask the children of Kurdistan.

NOTES:

[1] "Membership in the United Nations is open to all peace-loving states which accept the obligations of the Charter and, in the judgement of the Organization, are willing and able to carry out these obligations.

The admission of any such State to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."

Article 4, Chapter 2, United Nations Charter

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Steven T. Voigt is a lawyer with a premier international law firm, with a practice based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After receiving his juris doctorate, Steven served as a judicial clerk to the Pennsylvania appellate court for one year before entering private practice. He is the author of numerous papers and publications on national public policy and law, most recently the books, "No Political Solution No Political Messiah" and "TYRANNY: The Collapse of Traditional Law in America," as well as the law review The United States Must Remain Steadfastly Opposed to The Rome Treaty International Criminal Court (published by Widener Law Review 2003).

Among other community involvement, Steven is a Member of the Board of Advisors for Americandestiny.com. He also authors a free monthly e-newsletter discussing issues of national public policy, entitled Voigt on America. To subscribe to this free newsletter, simply send your name and e-mail address to Voigt2006@aol.com.

The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steven T. Voigt and do not necessarily reflect the views of his employer, any organizations he is affiliated with, or any forum where this is published. Furthermore, the views are not intended to be construed as legal advice. If you need advice about anything in this article, please speak directly with an attorney.

© Copyright 2004 by Steven Voigt http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/voigt/040927