Burying the Good News — and the Need for the Good News
A front-page article in today’s Los Angeles Times, titled Doubts and Duty Tug at Marines, lays out this sad observation — on page A8:
The small, incremental gains that Marines believe, or hope, they are making in Iraq are not being acknowledged at home.
This is a nearly universal point of view among these infantry Marines at Al Asad. It is voiced not just in interviews, but also in casual conversations among themselves, often short-handed this way: “The media doesn’t get it.”
But the Times reporter seems to assure us that Marines are wrong to think so:
The cliche comes easy, but the thoughts behind it are more complicated. In truth, Marines here have an exceedingly narrow window on the news: a morning BBC report on the chow hall television and random, usually stale, periodicals.
If only these Marines they had consistent access to up-to-date periodicals — like the L.A. Times, for instance — Marines would no doubt be proud to see how well their good acts are publicized.
Wow! This says so much.
In the view of the Times, being there and actually making the news is less important than reading about it in the press. It’s the literal interpretation of “who you gonna believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?”
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Comment by ras — 7/7/2004 @ 9:04 pm