OTM: WSJ reporter on covering Iraq (great read)

[warrens]

BOB GARFIELD: When you read criticism of the press in general, that it is somehow so fixated on bad news that it doesn't report the good, that it's essentially suppressing the good news out of Iraq, what do you all say to one another? How do you react?

FARNAZ FASSIHI: I can just say that if there were five car bombs going off in New York and 50 people kidnapped a day, I'm sure that metro reporters would be writing those stories and not talking about the school that was painted. When you're sitting in Iraq and putting your neck on the line to try to bring as balanced a story as possible, it's very frustrating to hear criticism like that...

SNIP

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/transcripts_022406_aint.html

[Nikki Stone 1]

1. Exactly

Good one. Thanks for posting.

[theoldman]

2. I could not agree more with Farnaz Fassihi.

The truth is that there is very little good news in Iraq. It there were, it would be reported. The problem is that the good news is over shadowed by the bad news.

[KittyWampus]

3. Excellent rebuttal which I will take the liberty to post in a few forums

thanks!

[NewJeffCT]

4. Outside their extreme RW op-ed page

The WSJ is a damn good newspaper - some of their investigative stories are very good, and I was even tearing up reading one of their human interest stories a few weeks back (a 17 month old boy that died from a staph infection, which seems to be a real problem, as opposed to bird flu)

[trotsky]

5. Great link. Recommended. n/t