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Have the Mainstream Media Ignored Our Heroes?

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Jun 19, 2006.

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  1. Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)

    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L) Active Member

    http://www1.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2006/06/have_the_msm_ignored_our_heroe.html
     
    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Jun 19, 2006
    #1
  2. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Puhleeze.

    Why did the Army lie and concoct stories to spoonfeed the media about the rescue of Jessica Lynch and the death of Pat Tillman?

    What a load of crapola.
     
    Ace, Jun 19, 2006
    #2
  3. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    Um, acts of heroism are expected in a war. I am not downplaying those acts of heroism, but in terms of newsworthiness--when we have cast ourselves as the good guys, spreading freedom and democracy--the far more newsworthy item is the force selling itself as moral and just committing acts of degradation and torture, a la Abu Ghraib. Those are the acts that the rest of the world is noticing, not the acts of "heroism" pulled off by our invading forces. Frankly, if we're the good guys, we should be doing good things. And if we're casting ourselves as the good guys, and we get caught committing atrocities, it should get much more notice.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 19, 2006
    #3
  4. Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)

    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L) Active Member

    I've heard that same Jessica Lynch thing parroted by several folks now. Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the original confusion caused by the Wash Post and "un-named military sources" and wasn't the truth explained by the army doctor in charge of Private Lynch and the army press liaisons? Wasn't a female black soldier also taken captive at the same time and wasn't she mostly ignored because white girl in danger stories sell more papers and get better TV ratings?
     
    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Jun 19, 2006
    #4
  5. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    I saw a Dateline episode a few weeks ago devoted entirely to the actions of a squad of Rangers during a rescue operation gone wrong in Afghanistan. It was amazing, amazing stuff those guys did...

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13233811/
     
    Inky_Wretch, Jun 19, 2006
    #5
  6. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    So the Washington Post manufactured the whole thing to sell papers and the Army graciously set the record straight? Is that your take?

    And Pat Tillman was a reporting error as well?
     
    Ace, Jun 19, 2006
    #6
  7. Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L)

    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L) Active Member

    Acts of heroism are almost by definition above and beyond the call of duty. Isn't that news?

    Does your paper ignore acts of heroism by police or firemen because they are expected in the course of their duties?

    BTW - you mention atrocities - can you name them? What has the military done in Iraq that can be termed atrocities?
     
    Evil Bastard (aka Chris_L), Jun 19, 2006
    #7
  8. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    Don't you mean the murder of Pat Tillman?
    It went from friendly fire to homicide investigation, but only after this parents pushed the case.
    And like my porn, I know a hero when I see a hero, but one man's hero is another man's war criminal. Just a matter of perspective.
     
    JayFarrar, Jun 19, 2006
    #8
  9. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    I didn't suggest that anyone ignore acts of heroism. I just explained that we have cast ourselves as the knights in shining armour spreading freedom, justice and democracy. That is why it gets a lot more attention when we get caught doing cruel, unjust, inhuman acts, such as what took place at Abu Ghraib.

    And if you don't consider what came out of Abu Ghraib to have been gross atrocities, then you moral compass is nowhere near most people's. Forcing people to stand on boxes with electrodes hooked up to them, convinced that if they fell off the box they would be electrocuted... Grown men put naked and on leashes, forced mastubation and forcing simulated oral sex in a culture in which few things could be more degrading. Those are not atrocities?

    I'd also point out that what we are doing at Guantanamo Bay is as un-American as anything. We have held prisoners for years, without any due process or legal process in which they could defend themselves. If they are terrorists, we should try them. But who's to say that there aren't innocent men being held prisoner, in as unjust, un-American, undemocratic way as exists anywhere in the world?

    And then there are the secret CIA camps around the world, which have been exposed, where there is evidence that we have kidnapped people--in several cases, innocent people--and taken them to secret locations and held them against their will without any due process or legal recourse or communication with their families.

    Those are not the American values I was brought up to appreciate.
     
    The Big Ragu, Jun 19, 2006
    #9
  10. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member

    I don't believe Superman has been released yet, so I'm not really expecting a lot of mainstream media to be discussing it just yet.
     
    Pastor, Jun 19, 2006
    #10
  11. Ralph Waldo Henderson

    Ralph Waldo Henderson Member

    It will be especially difficult for those of us in the newspaper business to handle writing about one of our own.
     
    Ralph Waldo Henderson, Jun 19, 2006
    #11
  12. Fenian_Bastard

    Fenian_Bastard Guest

    This is a talking-point thrown out there to distract us from the ongoing clusterf**k on the off chance we'll forget who's responsible for it. I am fairly certain that individual acts of heroism are covered widely by the local "MSM" -- another cheap term of art. And the military was covered quite lovingly through the whole embed period. The rescue of Jessica Lynch was an Army psy-ops production from start to finish. "Unnamed military sources," we can fairly assume, isn't a liberal cabal in the basement of the Pentagon. The news has gone bad because the war has gone bad and we're going to gear a lot of "stab in the back" stuff over the next year. I've seen this movie before.
     
    Fenian_Bastard, Jun 19, 2006
    #12
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