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Times: Press ignoring good news, focusing on prison abuse

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by Faos, May 21, 2004.

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  1. Faos

    Faos Member

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    http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040520-115221-2362r.htm

    Press can't let abuse story go


    By Jennifer Harper
    THE WASHINGTON TIMES


    Accounts and graphic photos of Iraqi prisoner abuse persist in the press despite the fact that the story has run its course.

    The world already knows salient details of the prisoner humiliation and nudity, the causes of the abuse are under official investigation, and the courts-martial have begun. Yet, the caterwaul in the press against the American military and the war in Iraq continue.

    "U.S. faces growing fear of failure," noted one recent Washington Post headline.

    ABC was the first to air yet another set of photos — these showing two U.S. soldiers grinning next to the body of an Iraqi at the Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. Al Arabiya, an Arabic broadcaster, also aired the photos of Army Spc. Charles A. Graner and Spc. Sabrina D. Harman — both facing a court-martial for prisoner abuse.

    As usual, the source of the photos remained unidentified. ABC billed them as "an exclusive" and noted that the soldiers were "posing over the body of a detainee who was allegedly beaten to death by CIA or civilian interrogators in the prison's showers."

    Positive human-interest accounts about the armed forces are rare. The press tends to ignore battlefield vignettes from military news services, which could offer an expanded perspective to the public.

    For example, 30 U.S. airmen and soldiers delivered school supplies and toys — gifts from American children — to an Iraqi village on Monday. Yesterday, Air Force medical teams airlifted a critically ill Iraqi infant and her mother to an Ohio hospital for treatment.

    The news focus is elsewhere.

    Earlier this week, Reuters news service announced that three of its "journalists" — actually two Iraqi cameramen and a driver under contract — had been beaten and taunted by Army paratroopers in January.

    But an Army investigation released yesterday cleared the soldiers of charges and categorized the incident as "a closed case."

    The report noted that "the soldiers clearly believed that these same Iraqis had attacked them previously" and pronounced that the charges of humiliation made by the Iraqis against the soldiers "are not credible."

    Tim Graham of the Media Research Center (MRC) noted yesterday that the "gay marriage story" overtook the prisoner abuse story in the press, but only for a day.

    "This abuse story is just not going away. It's still the first topic on most network news," Mr. Graham said. "And there's strong focus on the court-martials, on the bad apples — it's as if those troops represent the military at large, as far as the media is concerned. That is very discouraging."

    The center has been following "the bias problem" among broadcasters who use the abuse story to build a case against the war in Iraq and the Bush administration. As a sample, the group tracked abuse stories from April 29 through May 11 on NBC and found that the network aired 58 stories on the abuse in that period.

    The MRC also found, however, that in the past year, NBC had aired only five stories on mass graves found in Iraq from the Saddam Hussein era.

    •Contact Jennifer Harper at jharper@washingtontimes.com or 202/636-3085.
     
    #1 Faos, May 21, 2004
  2. giddyup

    giddyup Member

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    What sells?
     
    #2 giddyup, May 21, 2004
  3. Faos

    Faos Member

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    Prison sex. Good point.
     
    #3 Faos, May 21, 2004
  4. ima_drummer2k

    ima_drummer2k Member

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    Don't be silly. There is no good news. It's all bad news.

    I know because I watch the news and read the internet.
     
    #4 ima_drummer2k, May 21, 2004
  5. El_Conquistador

    El_Conquistador King of the D&D, The Legend, #1 Ranking

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    Hey, when you run out of fresh material to bash Bush with, then if you're a liberal, the next logical target is troop bashing. What else is new? They've been doing it for 30+ years, with John Forbes Kerry launching the phenomenon with his lies, misrepresentations and slander against Vietnam Vets. He used American troops to gain political clout in the 70's and guess what, he's doing it again in the 2000's.
     
    #5 El_Conquistador, May 21, 2004
  6. Batman Jones

    Batman Jones Member

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    Amazingly, Bush keeps providing fresh material. And no one here has bashed the troops better than Jorge. In fact, I can't recall anyone else even trying. The reason the press hasn't let the prison thing go is because it's in its infancy as a story. The people complaining about the coverage, while defending(!) the acts of the American war criminals, probably thought it was media bias that kept Watergate, Iran Contra and the fact that we were losing Vietnam in the news a couple weeks after those stories broke. Here's a tip: when you find yourself on the same side of an issue as James Inofe, you'd be well advised to avoid discussions of bias.
     
    #6 Batman Jones, May 21, 2004
  7. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Member
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    Perhaps, other than the victims of AG torture, the people who are hurt most by the scandal are the troops. The troops who are out there risking their lives, carrying out the mission handed to them are not the same as those that carried out ordered/allowed the murder, rape, torture, and abuse to go on at AG prison.

    Sadly, every person who wears the uniform is a representative. So those that are most tarnished by the abusers are others that wear the uniform. To a greater degree they were shamed by their fellow soldier's conduct than us at home who still feel that American principles and ideals were let down. I really feel bad for other soldiers who are out there, believe they are bringing better things to Iraqis, and trying to carry out the mission with honor and dignity.

    To support, or tolerate the soldiers who were responsible for the atrocities at AG prison, is to support further shaming and dishonoring the soldiers who are trying to carry out the job assigned to them with dignity.
     
    #7 FranchiseBlade, May 21, 2004
  8. Faos

    Faos Member

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    Well, here's some good news:


    Iraqi security official says four arrested in Berg killing

    BAGHDAD(AP) — Four people have been detained in the killing of American Nicholas Berg, whose decapitation was captured on videotape, an Iraqi security official and a U.S. military official said Friday. The Iraqi official said the group that killed Berg was led by a relative of Saddam Hussein.

    The suspects were former members of Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen paramilitary organization, the Iraqi security official said on condition of anonymity. Iraqi police arrested them on May 14 in a house in Salaheddin province, north of Baghdad. The province includes Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.

    Speaking on condition of anonymity, a U.S. military official in Baghdad confirmed four people were in custody. The official did not say who was holding the suspects.

    Another Iraqi official confirmed there were arrests in the Berg case, but would not comment further. The official also declined to be named.

    The group that was involved in the killing of Berg was led by Yasser al-Sabawi, a nephew of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi security official said. He said American intelligence had asked Iraqi authorities to hand over the suspects, but they were still in Iraqi hands.

    Al-Sabawi was not among those arrested, the Iraqi official said.

    Police intelligence agents arrested the suspects as they arrived to "plot other major operations," the official said without elaborating. Four suspects had arrived early for the 7 p.m. meeting and were inside the house, waiting for a fifth associate who escaped arrest, he said.

    Police seized weapons and explosives at the site. The Iraqi official said the informant who tipped off authorities was killed by unidentified gunmen the day after the arrests.

    American officials have said they believe Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian wanted for allegedly organizing attacks on U.S. troops in Iraq on behalf of al-Qaeda, personally carried out Berg's killing.

    On Tuesday, Interior Minister Samir Shaker Mahmoud al-Sumeidi refused to comment on reports of arrests in the Berg case.

    The body of Berg, 26, was found May 8 near a highway overpass in Baghdad. He was last seen on April 10 when he left his Baghdad hotel.

    A video posted May 11 on an al-Qaeda-linked Web site showed a bound Berg in an orange jumpsuit. He was sitting in front of five men, their faces masked, as one read an anti-American text.

    After pushing Berg to the floor, the men severed his head with a knife and held it up for the camera. They said his killing was in response to the abuse of Iraqis at Abu Ghraib prison.
     
    #8 Faos, May 21, 2004
  9. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    They've already released two of those arrested.
     
    #9 mc mark, May 21, 2004
  10. nyquil82

    nyquil82 Member

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    are you capable of distinguishing individuals from groups? none of your posts seem capable of doing that. you do realize that just because someone is in a group, they don't represent the entire group. Likewise, not everyone believes that one bad group represents the whole. I do realize some people see the forest instead of the trees, but you see a glass of water and call it the ocean.
     
    #10 nyquil82, May 21, 2004
  11. Batman Jones

    Batman Jones Member

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    Jorge, where do you come down on the Eddie Griffin issue? Pippen? For example, if I'm pissed at Pippen about his year as a Rocket am I bashing the Rockets? If Les refuses to sign Eddie again after all the team went through dealing with him, does he hate his own team?
     
    #11 Batman Jones, May 21, 2004
  12. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Times = New York Times, maligned by the right, though one of the world's finest news gathering organizations and makes an attempt to be balanced, has an editorial page featuring writers from across the spectrum.

    Washington Times = echo chamber by and for right wingers and owned by Moonies.


    This is so ridiculous. The situation in Iraq is chaotic. The iraqis dislike us and want us to leave. This is backed up by both empirical and anectdotal evidence.

    Sorry happy bunnies, but that is the truth. Yes, I know, they only report the bad news. Too bad, in this situation, the bad news is what is important.

    As I've said before, misplaced delusional optimism in Iraq is amusing up until the point where it gets a lot of people killed, which it has, and will.
     
    #12 SamFisher, May 21, 2004
  13. ROXTXIA

    ROXTXIA Member

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    Great. Here we have another reporter being paid by the Pentagon to unearth (bad pun) the mass graves story.

    Now, I do know that mass graves and such in WWII were ignored until too late and such. But there's a problem here. Administrations invent stories for the media to regurgitate and others to repeat as actual news, as the truth.

    The mass graves? Yes, Saddam was brutal. But if they say "380,000 buried in mass graves," can we say, Even one killed person is bad, but how do they KNOW how many people Hussein killed? Why do we care now when we let him kill unabated up until he decided to take Kuwait 14 years ago (having sought a signal from the U.S. as to what we would do if he invaded and receiving none)?

    How many of those people in the mass graves were killed when GHWB (the Elder) didn't back the Shiites after he entreated them to rise up against Saddam (which they did, much to their, uh, detriment).

    Anyone remember Denzel Washington's character in Training Day, when he was reading a newspaper and saying that it was 90% B.S.? Sometimes I wonder.

    Carl Bernstein uncovered info years ago about hundreds of reporters being on the CIA payroll. Look, I know many of us hate conspiracy theories. It's just true. So who knows what to believe anymore.

    In any case, newspapers always run with the story that sells the most copies.
     
    #13 ROXTXIA, May 21, 2004
  14. SamFisher

    SamFisher Member

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    Jorge's knowledge of roundball is roughly equivalent to his knowledge of macroeconomics whenever Vik posts.....
     
    #14 SamFisher, May 21, 2004
  15. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    Sam,

    What a ridiculous statement, I am sure there are Iraqis who want the US to leave, and there are some who want them to stay until a real government is in place.

    Why not ask the Kurds if they want the US to leave right now?

    You are making a massive leap in faith to support a position you hold.

    Sure some want us gone, some don't, the reality is, we can't leave until the government is stable.

    DD
     
    #15 DaDakota, May 21, 2004
  16. Faos

    Faos Member

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    DD,

    Please don't resort to logic. It only confuses them.
     
    #16 Faos, May 21, 2004
  17. bigtexxx

    bigtexxx Member

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    The liberal media's manipulation of what they share with the American people continues to disgust me. What's bad is that the liberals in this country eat this stuff up. They want to point out as many negatives about our military and our courageous troops as they can in an effort to further their political beliefs and their politicians' chances in November. It's the psychological principal of consistency in clear form.
     
    #17 bigtexxx, May 21, 2004
  18. mc mark

    mc mark Member

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    81% of Iraqis in the latest poll wants the US to leave.

    That's a lot of "some"
     
    #18 mc mark, May 21, 2004
  19. Bogey

    Bogey Member

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    Why is the bad news the only news that is important? Because it backs your side?
     
    #19 Bogey, May 21, 2004
  20. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Member
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    #20 FranchiseBlade, May 21, 2004
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