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Posted on 07/12/2005 12:46:22 PM PDT by rhema
This is a belated Fourth of July column (superseded by the state shutdown). The headline isn't a prelude to a column justifying why the Islamists hate Westerners so much that they're pouring into Iraq to kill our soldiers (along with innocent fellow Arabs, including Egyptian diplomats). Or defending the sleeper cells planted to blow up Madrid, London and who knows where next. Rather, it's about why most Americans, particularly soldiers, hate the media.
I decided to become a journalist when I was a soldier. I was in the U.S. Navy in the early and mid-1980s — "the glory years," as I like to say, a reference to President Ronald Reagan. As part of my duties, I went to some of the world's hot spots.
While sailing in the South China Sea, my ship picked up some refugee boat people on a rickety raft that I wouldn't take out on Como Lake, much less try to float across the Pacific Ocean. One of the survivors, shortly after coming up the accommodation ladder dripping wet, grabbed me (the nearest sailor), hugged me as tightly as his strength would allow, and could only murmur "thank you" through sobs of joy.
I'd then come back to the U.S. and read accounts of places I'd just been — in papers like the New York Times and Washington Post —that bore no resemblance to what I'd seen. There was one exception: the Wall Street Journal editorial page. I began reading a column called "Thinking Things Over" by Vermont Connecticut Royster, one of the legends of that august page. He would later become a mentor — a God, really — and I eventually worked there.
I'm reminded of why I became a journalist by the horribly slanted reporting coming out of Iraq. Not much has changed since the mid-1980s. Substitute "insurgent" for "Sandinista," "Iraq" for "Soviet Union," "Bush" for "Reagan" and "war on terror" for "Cold War," and the stories need little editing. The U.S. is "bad," our enemies "understandable" if not downright "good."
I know the reporting's bad because I know people in Iraq. A Marine colonel buddy just finished a stint overseeing the power grid. When's the last time you read a story about the progress being made on the power grid? Or the new desalination plant that just came on-line, or the school that just opened, or the Iraqi policeman who died doing something heroic? No, to judge by the dispatches, all the Iraqis do is stand outside markets and government buildings waiting to be blown up.
I also get unfiltered news from Iraq through an e-mail network of military friends who aren't so blinded by their own politics that they can't see the real good we're doing there. More important, they can see beyond their own navel and see the real good we're doing to promote peace and prosperity in the world. What makes this all the more ironic is the fact that the people who are fighting and dying want to stay and the people who are merely observers want to cut and run.
I feel for these soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan because I'm sure they're coming home and noticing the same disconnect that I did when I served. Moreover, stories about their families and others who are here and trying to make a difference largely go unreported.
Ever heard of Soldiers' Angels or Operation Minnesota Nice?
Probably not.
There have been just two mentions of Operation Minnesota Nice by the Twin Cities metro dailies, one a brief in the Pioneer Press and the other a front-page story in the paper across the river. Operation Minnesota Nice collects care packages — of baby wipes, lip balm, baby powder and other items — for soldiers serving overseas. Soldiers' Angels does the same thing, mating civilians who maybe don't have a loved one overseas with soldiers who don't have loved ones.
Where's the daily coverage of these groups and others like them?
Moreover, where are the stories on nearly every VFW and American Legion hall that's actively supporting the troops? What about their stories?
Instead, we get Monday's front-page story about a "secret" memo about "emerging U.S. plans" to withdraw troops next year. Why isn't the focus of the story the fact that 14 of 18 Iraqi provinces are stable and the four that aren't are primarily home to the genocidal gang of thugs who terrorized that country for 30 years?
And reporters wonder why they're despised.
good post
Amen
The St. Paul Pioneer-Press actually hired this Yost fellow? How did he get through the Personnel Department? And how did this column get through the Editors?
And where will he be working next week...???
Mark
Great Post!
The obvious truth is that the media almost never reports good deeds in general. They thrive on negativty and conflict. When you add in their liberal bias you get what we see coming out of Iraq. People who were there saying one thing, people who were not saying something entirely different.
Yeppers. Great article, rhema.
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Is this the Mark Yost who writes (wrote?) for AP???
It was evident that the writers, of some of the articles, had not attended the same events as I.
I'll bump to that.
ping
How refreshing! Power to him, then.
It is a good post. However, I think that it just barely scratches the surface. I hate the media for all of the reasons above plus their self righteous holier than thou attitudes. They honestly believe that they are on a holy crusade to make the world a better place. They hold allegiance to none but the holy order of fellow journalists. They will investigate the he!! out of anyone, but don't dare look to closely into their lives. They scream like the filthy useless mounds of flesh that they are, blah!
I hear you about reporters looking for dirt. I had some wonderful neighbors of a different religion. They dressed in western style, were agricultural, and did not watch tv (the last part wasn't part of the religion. they just didn't watch tv). A woman in our area had killed her children in a horrible way. The media found out that this woman had met this church group (turned out she had met them ONCE during a rummage sale). So there was a reporter who confronted me when I was taking out the trash. Having dealt with them before I knew what to say and what no to say. It was obvious she had talked to other neighbors (none of them could say one bad thing about this family). Then, she looked at my house, which had a built-on addition in the back. "Is this a compound?" she asked. "No. It's my house." I should have asked if she lived in a cracker box or something.
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