Meet the Press

I love the new war on the press because the coverage of "the Long War" is not upbeat. And in one sense the criticism is totally justified. The news media follows an "it bleeds it leads mentality." And I begrudgingly admit, that many arch-conservative commentators are completely accurate - many news readers are liberal and from time to time show their bias. However, the corporate ownership of the companies which produce the programs is conservative. If you think GE, a munitions manufacturer, parent company of NBC, is a liberal corporation, it is only because you are horribly misguided.

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Why then do these conservatively owned companies continue to show gruesome, horrifying and morale-draining coverage of the war.

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The answer is fairly simple - you. Liberal or conservative, the media is a ratings game. And if you think you are going to tune in night after night to watch a report of another school being built near Basra or the power grid increasing its capacity from 10 hours a day to 11 hours a day, you are fooling yourself. You would watch a heartwarming story about a GI helping some Iraqi kids get fresh water one time. Whether you hate the media or not, you love this story. Either you watch because you think the war is horrible and you can't bear to think that another day has passed with more American and Iraqi dead or you watch because you are furious that the liberal elite news media continues to show these misleading images and not the stories which you wouldn't watch.

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The furor with which the news media has latched onto the story against the press demonstrates the point. Why aren't we hearing about all the wonderful things the press is doing and can do?