Monday, July 19 2004
THE BAD, THE GOOD AND THE DAWN OVER BAGHDAD: There's been a spate of violence in Iraq recently. The headlines this morning tell of more bad news. But there's also been a host of good news in Iraq as well, and once again Arthur Chrenkoff ably rounds it all up for our viewing pleasure.

The difference between the two, of course, is emphasis. Bad news is pumped out of Iraq the moment it occurs via wire services and television crews. It almost always makes front pages across the country (in many cases with a color photo of the carnage) and it's played in a virtual loop on cable news channels trying to fill an entire day's schedule with "breaking news" stories.

The good news, on the other hand, comes in dribs and drabs - a story here and a story there. These stories are usually treated more like "vignettes" rather than "hard" news since they are, by definition, stories that make you "feel good". As a result, you're just as likely to find them in the middle or the back of the paper as you are the front - if you can find them at all, that is.

As Chrenkoff says, trying to find good news on Iraq is a maddening exercise, not because it isn't out there but because it gets so little emphasis and attention in the mainstream media.

We know why this is so. More than anything else, there is an institutional bias in the media for bad news. Watch any local five o'clock news broadcast in America and you know what I mean. Carnage and chaos sell newspapers and generate ratings. Ribbon cutting ceremonies at new schools or new government buildings don't. And the American public is as much to blame for this as anyone.

But there's an ideological bias in the press as well. Many reporters in Baghdad and their editors back in the states lean to the left and don't want to be seen as "cheerleading" for a President (and most likely a war) they don't like or agree with. The news we get is invariably filtered (either consciously or unconsciously, or both) through a group of people who generally feel the war was a mistake and the reconstruction a quagmire. It's no surprise the coverage reflects those feelings.

Finally, reporting good news is hard work. It takes time and effort. You actually have to generate ideas, do the leg work of interviewing people, and then be able to sit down and construct a compelling story. It's not an easy thing to do - and it's certainly a lot harder than sitting around waiting for the next bomb to go off and then running out to scribble down the details of the scene. Unfortunately, not enough journalists have the time or devote the effort to reporting some of the better news happening in Iraq.

One journalist who did do the leg work is Karl Zinsmeister. Karl is the editor of The American Enterprise Magazine and author of two books about the Iraq war. Boots on the Ground is Zinsmeister's account of his experience imbedded with the 82nd Airborne during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Early this year, Zinsmeister returned to Iraq for a number of weeks to get a close up look at how our troops are simultaneously battling the insurgency and managing the reconstruction process.

The result is Zinsmeister's new book (and our featured book of the month): "Dawn Over Baghdad: How the U.S. Military is Using Bullets and Ballots to Remake Iraq." If you're looking for a first hand account of what's going on in Iraq, I suggest you buy this book and read it immediately.

Last week I had the privilege of interviewing Zinsmeister about the book and in the coming days we'll be publishing the two part interview. But I can tell you right now the most striking thing about both the book and the interview is just how different a picture Zinsmeister paints of Iraq than what we're all used to seeing from the mainstream press.

Karl is optimistic - though by no means a Pollyanna - about our progress in Iraq. His experience day in and day out with our troops suggest that despite the ongoing violence they are making great strides in Iraq, and with sustained effort and perseverance we have a decent shot at accomplishing the task of helping Iraq become a functioning, stable democracy in the heart of the Middle East.

Iraq is not all roses. Those who support the war can't wish away the continued violence and struggle there. But it's important to remember there's another side to the coin in Iraq, one we rarely get to see and one that is almost never viewed with any historical perspective.

Chrenkoff's articles and Zinsmeister's book help give the sort of balance that Americans need, in fact that we deserve, to make informed judgments about our policy in Iraq. It's a balance the mainstream press doesn't seem either able or willing to provide. - T. Bevan 8:45 am Link | Email | Send to a Friend