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http://www.omniture.com --> Mail Tribune Blogs --> --> « How Can A Saluki Kill A Bird That Only Exists On The Hardcourt? Harthun robbed » Where’s the good news from Iraq? Posted by Bob Hunter I recently received an e-mail asking a question everyone in the media has heard repeatedly — Why don’t you publish more news about the good things going on in Iraq? This missive came with a group of photos of smiling U.S. soldiers with smiling kids. I think there are three basic reasons there are not more good news stories in the local media: 1. There’s not that much good news to report. Yes, there are success stories and pockets of the country where things are going better, but the truth is that it remains a country torn apart. You hear that not just from journalists, but from the troops themselves. There have been some notable good news stories that ended poorly — new schools started and school kids later killed, water treatment plants built and then destroyed by insurgents. I’ve asked our wire editors to keep an eye out for “good news,” but they say they see little of it. 2. We have little control over the war coverage. The reporters on the ground in Iraq are primarily from wire services or major media outlets. They are often unable to get outside the U.S. protected Green Zone, because it’s too dangerous. So if a school or an electrical plant opens, there’s often little or no media there to witness it. Are the reporters on the ground biased against the war? I can’t judge that, but from what I read and hear, it seems they’re just trying to tell us what’s going on, the good and the bad. 3. The military makes it hard to tell the good stories. As strange as that seems, it’s true. We have twice had good stories set up with local soldiers, only to be told that they found out they could not speak to the media. So the stories we could tell from the people who are on the front lines are blocked by the very military that says the media are not telling the whole story. Seems like they’re shooting themselves in the foot. As I mentioned, the e-mail I received came with photos. But they were pictures of soldiers with no IDs, so we have no idea if they’re from Medford or Oshkosh. If you know of any local people who are serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, please let us know, because we do want to tell their stories. We can’t send a reporter to Baghdad, but when the troops come home, we will meet them anytime, anywhere to let them tell their stories. This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 4:45 pm and is filed under From the Editor . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response , or trackback from your own site. 2 Responses to “Where’s the good news from Iraq?” UncleTed Rocks Says: March 24th, 2007 at 9:56 am Really?? No good news at all? Bob, obviously you are not reading your own Forums. We have had good news reported from Troops serving over there posted on the Forums. The detractors here snidely proclaim them to be part of a propaganda effort. They do not make it sound all grand and glorious, but they do show positive results and we hear things from them we do not hear from the Media. Margo Freer Says: March 27th, 2007 at 12:10 pm Bull. there is plent of good news to report. The media is so bent of getting rid of Bush (all right already we do not have a President for Life in this country) that they will use every chance to bury a good story and splash a bad one. We need all of it…the American public really does have enough brain cells working to decide on our own. Leave a Reply Mail Tribune Blogs is proudly powered by WordPress Entries (RSS) and Comments (RSS) .