On our media

Normally with this subject line, I’d rant a bit about materialism and consumerism. But I keep getting affected by Michael Yon’s dispatches on Iraq. I’d recommend you check out the latest here:

http://www.michaelyon.blogspot.com/

Here are a couple of media-related gems , interspersed in a rather compelling (and also lengthy) assessment of American military involvement and the development of the Iraqi Coalition Forces in one part of Iraq (from his dispatch entitled Battle for Mosul IV):

> To an enemy in need of assets, a press that is increasingly
> disengaged is like an empty car with keys in the ignition
> -- begging to be stolen.

> Mosul faded from the news. No one seemed eager to rush
> in and cover progress.

Why aren't we more critical of the press, and their inability to really provide insightful and balanced reporting? We feed on sensationalism, controversy, and negativity. It just baffles the mind.

In any event, though I can have no first had information of what is really going on in Iraq, Michael Yon's on-the-ground, in-depth reporting rings more true than the headlines and sound-bites we get from conventional media, or worse, politically motivated players.

S-