Gawker
It's been five years in Iraq and now 4,000 Americans dead, but news coverage has "plummeted" across television and newspapers, down to one-fifth of what it was last summer, according to the people who study these things. Let's dig a little deeper, along with the Times, and figure out why everyone is so bored with Iraq even though it's an important and tragic war. Some starting points from the Times' script doctors: the story arc is all wrong, there's no big lottery to get excited about and other big shows like The Biggest Economic Depression and The Amazing Racial Election are stealing all the ratings.
Alex Jones at Harvard tells the Times: "In a conventional war, like World War II, there’s dramatic change, a moving front line, a compelling narrative." But Iraq is all about insurgents, who are hidden and widely dispersed.
Plus there's no draft, therefore there's less drama. "People were sent against their will [to Vietnam], and many more Americans were killed," Jones told the Times.
Also, everyone is talking about the election and the economy so there's no room for war news. Combat zone journalism is expensive, anyway, what with all the killing and kidnappings. You basically have to hire your own little security army, which is why the Times is spending $3 million a year in Iraq. And it's not like publishers are flush with cash right now. They used to clamor for chances to embed reporters with military units; now the Defense Department can't give those slots way.
Happily, the death rate for American troops is down to about one third of what it was a year ago. But that's not good for ratings, apparently.
Still, there is an American dying in Iraq every day, on average. How to get people interested again? Maybe send the "unscripted drama" producers, aka reality television guys, instead of some of the news guys. Stateside, they are already developing a show about detention and torture, after all. Factionalism, the oxygen of reality television, is in Iraq in abundance. Or don't even leave the base: just airlift in a minor celebrity like, say, Paris Hilton, scatter camcorders among the troops and you're golden.
At least then people would be watching crap TV regularly interrupted by reminders of the war instead just plain crap TV.
Comments
Ow! Hey, could you put the IV back in?
Boy, if you guys were sent to Iraq against your will... nah, I still wouldn't pay attention. Sorry!
Nope. Iraq -- Schmiraq. What's going on with Britney? No, seriously. What is going on with Britney.
@donmiguel: She dared to step onto the Atlantic. And the blog sharks snapped...:
Spears for fears.
"and other big shows like The Biggest Economic Depression and The Amazing Racial Election are stealing all the ratings..."
Ha. Well put.
I was just thinking yesterday about how I never think about the Iraq war. The problem is not that the war is not news, it's that all the stories are the same: 12 people died in a suicide bombing; 130 people died in a suicide bombing; 1 person died in a suicide bombing. Where is the coverage about what's actually happening, how the country is going about its business, what has happened to normal Iraqis....it's tough out there, so I don't want to criticize the war reporters, because they have about 9 million times the courage I do. But they seeem to think they're covering the military, when they're actually covering a war.
i don't think about the war because like cassandra said, it's the same report every time. it's not that i don't care about the people over there, in fact i feel sorry for them because they're fighting an endless war. the reason for this war will have us over there for much, much longer than we could ever anticipate.. unless we pull our pants up and apologize. then so what if "they" come over here and blow us to smitherines? isn't that what we did there? are we so scared to face our own consequences because our people are too pretty? puhleez.
NBC NEWS EDITORIAL MEETING - NOTES
FRIDAY, 21 MARCH 2008
3PM
News Dir. - On tap - Election, Barack / Wright, Crybaby Hillary, Flooding - Midwest, Where Have the Bees Gone? Britney in TV Show, Newfangled Electric Car, 225th Anniversary of American Cheese. Features?
Features Ed. - Um, let's see, Fencing: Neighbors Without Borders; Mortgage CRISIS!!!!!!!1! Bored regular people hiring pretend paparazzo; Britney in TV Show.
News Dir. - Wait. News already has Britney. What's plan B?
Features Ed. - 2:30 on Perez Hilton.
News Dir. - I likey. Politics?
Politics - I got nothin'.
News Dir. - Really? Are you sure?
Politics - Oh yeah. McCain in Iraq.
News Dir. - Aaaaaaaand...
Politics - Um, Nader?
News Dir - Good. Anyone else? Anyone?
News Intern - Um, we might hit 4,000 U.S. soldier deaths in Iraq.
News Dir. - Oh yeah? When?
News Intern - Probably Saturday or Sunday.
News Dir. - This fucking Saturday or Sunday? Fuck that - weekend crew will handle. Send them an email, okay? Let's go back to work - get out early today for Easter!
@cassandra: [last-of-iraqis.blogspot.com]
Howie Mandel, steel briefcases and exploding models. Put it up against Survivor.
@MoonCake: Oh ok. So lets just take our medicine. We have it coming, right? Good plan.
How about this; if your bleeding heart is so wracked with guilt over the big bad USA and all of our evil deeds, to the point that you genuinely feel that we deserve a few suicide bombings on the A train to even up the score, why don't you just go over there and offer yourself up in sacrifice on our behalf? Because I'm sure that would totally work.
Don't these politicians know anything? It's time to cancel this program and come up with a mid-season replacement. Preferably something comical and light, like a war with the Dutch.
"Many" more Americans were killed?
4000 in Iraq. 58,209 in Vietnam. That's more than a degree of magnitude higher.
I believe the term you were searching for is "exponentially."
@UnstableMabel: That is beautiful and sad. Thanks.
@donmiguel: Britney needs to die. For the Harvest. (See: Southpark)
@ADismalScience: One American soldier's life lost without just cause is a tragedy. Orders of madgnitude don't matter to the grieving family and loved ones.
@Toomanytomatoes: Believe it or not, there are families out there who think their children died for a great and honorable cause. True, they hurt, as any parent would in the face of such a tragic loss - but take care not to presume to speak on behalf of all of them.
@Toomanytomatoes:
Yes, but clearly the volume of tragedies in Iraq is far less than the volume for Vietnam. Either way, the magnitude of Vietnam is far greater from a casualty perspective.
In other words, the degree of the tragedy that was Vietnam is greater than the degree of the tragedy that was Iraq. You have to measure things, in my mind, platitudes asside.
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