On Fri, 2 Dec 2005 09:15:25 -0500, Mark Wonsil <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>> The "truth" that the military pays to be published in Iraqi newspapers?
>> Surprise, surprise. The U.S. military has been caught with its hand in 
the
>> cookie jar paying off Iraqi journalists to plant buttery stories about 
the
>> slicing and dicing going on in that war-torn nation.
>
>Here's a review by the Columbia School of Journalism about the press
>coverage during the first Gulf War:
>http://archives.cjr.org/year/91/3/debrief-arnett.asp
>
>Getting the truth out of Iraq has never been easy. If you recall, all
>journalists in Baghdad had a "minder" watching and approving every story.
>Forget about paying to get stories into the nightly news casts, those
>reporters were saying whatever the Iraqi officials wanted just to stay in
>the country.
>
>IMHO, the best line in the article blasts every advocacy journalist, "A
>journalist who decides that his job is to help win a war, rather than just
>to describe it, is better off enlisting." (I would extend the comment "to
>help win OR LOSE a war...") A good journalist shouldn't have to be paid to
>report view or another, they should leave their biases at the door and
>report EVERYTHING that they see regardless of whether or not it gets them
>invited to next exclusive Washington/New York party.
>
>Mark W.


Mark,

I absolutely agree. The same should be done by the reader.
Just because he doesn't like report A he shouldn't automatically dislike or 
not read report B. 
However that seems to be the case very often as well.
Everybody makes mistakes and some even have the guts/nerve to admit that 
they made a mistake while others don't.

Have a great weekend
Michael

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