Broken news: Media off target, again

[BobcatJH]

Moving into a new place, as most of you know, is a massive pain in the ass. So much to do, so little time. So many important tasks falling through the cracks if you forget. So much packing, unpacking, assembling and disassembling before you can finally settle, before you can let out a sigh of relief. If you don't keep your eyes on the prize, completing one task at a time, moving in can soon seem like an almost impossible goal, an unreachable destination left only to those with proper time management skills and the necessary stick-to-itiveness. Minor distractions so deviously take you away from what needs to be done, occupying your time when there are many, many more important things left to do. And now, thanks to an easily-distracted media led astray by the high-calorie, low-content story du jour, the American public is paying the same price for the Fourth Estate not staying on target.

Over the last few weeks alone, the mainstream media has done the American public a tremendous disservice. Think of all that's happened and what should have been under the journalistic spotlight - or, that was but was quickly tossed aside when a sexier story hit the wires. Iraq. Iran. Israel and Lebanon. (Or, to sum up the first three, the disastrous Bush foreign policy.) A judge declaring the administration's warrantless wiretapping unconstitutional. The anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. And on and on. Major stories all. Major stories abandoned when shinier, more attention-grabbing stories came around. The last month represented an important growth opportunity for the American media. Yet sadly, we remain one nation, under the Crocodile Hunter, with JonBenet and John Mark for all.

While America reacted Monday to the tragic death of Steve Irwin, television's "Crocodile Hunter", another sad occurrence may have slipped through the cracks. With the announcement Sunday that four U.S. service members had died in Iraq, the American death toll for that war and the so-called war on terror reached 2,974, just shy of 3,000. What you might have missed, however, is the fact that more Americans have now died in Iraq than the total - including Americans and foreign nationals - who died on September 11. Yesterday afternoon, just before a commercial break, CNN's John King asked, "Also ahead: The Crocodile Hunter could be killed by a - if - if - if the Crocodile Hunter could be killed by a stingray, are you at risk?" I'm guessing the families of those four brave American soldiers would find that threat trivial.

Irwin's death, I'm sure, won't have the staying power of another recent media infatuation, that of a possible break in the JonBenet Ramsey murder case. Take, for instance, Thursday, August 17, when NBC, CBS and ABC each led their nightly news broadcasts with wall-to-wall coverage of the decade-old case, especially alleged Ramsey killer John Mark Karr. Total time devoted to the story was 7:39, 3:23 and 4:03, respectively. This, of course, is to say nothing of the countless hours of cable news time devoted to the typical cable news fare, missing and/or dead white women (or girls). But a funny thing happened on the way to Aruba.* That same Thursday, news broke that a federal judge had declared the Bush administration's warrantless wiretapping unconstitutional, saying, "Plaintiffs have prevailed, and the public interest is clear, in this matter. It is the upholding of our Constitution." How much coverage did this stunning, administration-rebuking revelation draw from NBC, CBS and ABC? Well, :27, :25 and 2:00, respectively.

I thought a year ago, obviously prematurely, that the media had awoken from its slumber, a deep sleep that began when President Bush took office. A sleep that began when the Beltway-anchored political press corps decided that access trumped accountability. And a sleep that was no doubt encouraged by the administration-friendly corporations that own so much of what we see, read and hear. Shaken last year by the enormity of Katrina, traditionally mild-mannered anchors and correspondents gave audiences a true glimpse at the raw nerves left exposed after the storm. Remember Anderson Cooper dressing down Sen. Mary Landrieu and her colleagues for patting themselves on the back as federal delays mounted? Or Aaron Brown and Paula Zahn speaking out, questioning the Pentagon's motives and challenging Michael Brown? Remember Fox News stalwarts Shepard Smith and Geraldo Rivera, both on-the-ground along the Gulf Coast, challenging studio hosts to recognize the tragedy as it unfolded? In other words, remember when Keith Olbermann wasn't seemingly the only one doing his job? What a difference a year makes.

No one's denying that the Ramsey case's latest developments were, in some way or another, worthy of coverage. Or that Irwin's untimely, yet sadly predictable, death is something of note. That said, you'd have to be Nancy Grace, Rita Cosby or Joe Scarborough to put forth the idea that either story should predominate the news, which both have. The truly terrible news - for all of us - is that there appears to be far more Graces, Cosbys and Scarboroughs acting as gatekeeper than there are Olbermanns. And unlike Olbermann, whose ability to focus, to stay on target, is without peer, the third-rate talents dominating the media have the attention span of an out-of-control child. And each hasty transition from story of significance to story of insignificance comes at our nation's peril. When the end of democracy comes, it'll come to us live, on location, with team coverage, from Aruba.

* So to speak.

[underpants]

1. 2,656

I am not sure where you got the 2,974 from but this says that the US count in Iraq is 2,656

http://www.icasualties.org/oif/

:shrug:

I know that this number is surely understated but that is the official number as far as I know.

[BobcatJH]

3. Updated ...

... that total, per the article cited, is for Iraq and the so-called war on terror total ...

[habitual]

2. didn't you get the memo?

these death toll numbers are only relevent when they are nice round numbers. So, don't expect any attention to be paid to them until we start approaching the very round number of 3,000.

[fooj]

4. Today they went so far as to have "BREAKING NEWS"

re: the 1997 Goldman/Simpson trial. Unfrickingbelievable. WTF?

[sui generis]

5. I am of two minds on this one

the first one was, what a relief, I listened to national news early this morning and not once did I hear anyone use the word "terrorist" or "controversial" in the entire national segment.

I think that without pictures of our dead soldiers coming home in metal boxes for closed casket funerals all the words in the world mean nothing, and this administration knows it.

Putting their shiny happy faces on a memorial wall does not convey what we have demanded of them and their families. Calling them heroes does not take away the destruction in their lives and in the lives of Iraqi civilians.

Staying on target means more words falling on numb souls and deaf ears. Oh. Another dead soldier. Darn. I wonder what's for dinner.

The Steve Irwin story has its place, certainly more newsworthy than certain missing people in Aruba and puerile Jon-Benet Ramsey tabloid crap. It is sad, he was one of those pervasive cultural icons that you don't seek out but on reflection realize you've seen a lot of, and he was inoffensive and it was unexpected.

It is sad that even when we do with all solemnity announce the deaths of yet another daily handful of soldiers that we immediately cover any grief anyone might feel with a call to patriotism and how we're really beating Thuh Enumy, or what a great job the Presidumb is doing in the Woah on Terra, how it's "worth it" whatever that meaningless and stupid phrase means, especially when repeated by a bobble head news anchor.