Who What Why Where How, Maybe
As all the dusty textbooks and dusty commentators remind us, the sacred profession of journalism is all about imparting the facts to the unknowing masses. Facts, that is: something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed.
And if that's journalism, I have to wonder what exactly the Pioneer Press was serving up to us yesterday. From the front page, above the fold lead article, beneath the scream headline (War Debate Grows Louder), I present the opening sentence:
Two years after the Iraq invasion, America seems to be losing its stomach for war.
Seems? Seems!? In the most prominent, most influential, most read position in the entire paper, the showpiece for the journalism they are able to create, and in the opening sentence, they give us .... seems!?
It seems to me the reporter wasn't quite sure about that conclusion. Maybe he needed a few extra days to flesh out the facts and come to a conclusion he can state unequivocally and stand behind (or abandon the thesis entirely). Until then, how about we keep this idle, speculative editorializing out of the news coverage, let alone giving it FRONT PAGE treatment.
"Seems," one of the classic CYA words in the professional journalist lexicon. Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong. And if I am wrong, it sure "seemed" that way at the time. Who can argue with that? 100% accurate reporting, as always. No bias here, move along now, nothing to see here, give my regards to Kate Parry.
The unseemly nature of the claim (that Americans are not supporting the effort to rebuild Iraq) is revealed later in the article, where the only evidence presented is a superficial interpretation of a BS poll and the publicity seeking antics of a group of radical appeasement Democrats, a rogue Republican, and a Libertarian RINO in Congress. Neither of which would even be close to front page news on their own.
But haphazardly "connect the dots" and add some editorial commentary and that's good enough to earn a flashing, blaring, front page claim that America is "losing its stomach" for the effort in Iraq. You know, if we get a few more scream articles like this appearing on the front page, they just might convince enough people to make that statement true.
After reviewing this article, I opened up the Pioneer Press to read what else was happening in the world. And I had to laugh seeing the lead to this article, appearing on the Nation/World page.
June appears likely to become one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops in Iraq as U.S. officials announced Thursday the deaths of five Marines and a sailor in and near the restive city of Ramadi.
Appears likely? Is this the Pioneer Press or the Psychic Friends Network?
If reporting the month end casualties for June as a barometer of the success for our efforts in Iraq is so damned important, why not wait until the facts actually present themselves before guessing about them in print?
I suppose we'll have to tune back in a couple of weeks to see how all that speculation actually worked out. And if they're wrong, don't expect to see it in the corrections column. Remember, it only "appeared likely," no factual assertions were actually made. For actual facts, it seems we'll have to look somewhere else than the newspaper.
For the facts on Iraq, my suggestions:
Austin Bay
Steven Vincent
Belmont Club
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