"Thank you for your kind and well thought out response. So 61 journalists killed since the invasion took place means they are reporting from their balconies? I can't find a figure on those injured."
Joe, its obvious you have a dog in this fight. So I'll ask you. I see lots of MSM reporters pointing out how many "journalists" were killed so far.
My question, how many of those killed were MSM journalists? I think only very, very few. My gut instinct is that the ones who were killed were the ones who are reporting the true story that the MSM ignores or simply spikes. The ones who were not afraid to get "dirty". The ones who didn't wait for the 5 O'Clock follies.
And I think the MSM runs and hides behind that number in a cynical attempt to take credit where none is due.
AG: No I have no particular dog in this fight. The media argument is a straw man argument. Even if the media were totally friendly, they still could not report the war to everyones satisfaction. Now add to it that they to a point need to be adversarial to get to the real story behind the spin and then add that yes, they are to varying degrees not friendly to this administration. But even remaining nuetral in their coverage, they would be irking most people on this forum who are in general supporters of the President because they would report on the abuses, they would report on aspects of the administrations expectations that fell apart and they would report on the toll of the war on portions of Iraqi society. But they would also probably be reporting more stories on sucesses, a return to normalacy in certain portions of the country and signs of democracy emerging. But fans of the admin would focus on the fact that setbacks got reported at all.
About 2/3 of the journalists killed are locals hired by the MSM because it's too dangerous to send marquee reporters to some of the areas being covered. But these folks were hired to cover the stories. But some MSM reporters/crew have been killed or seriously injured while on coverage. The ABC reporter and his camera man come to mind.
Fox news has had Ollie North over there many times and yet not a single person on this thread has pointed that out. His reports detail the bravery of the soldiers as well as the problems they face.