We learned about journalism in one of our high school lit courses (Pre – JFK assassination, when the World Went Mad), and lesson #1 was: “DO NOT editorialize in the copy!”

How would you characterize the event?

There’s your value – free, judgmental reporting fromthe left again.

After a day of covering the horrible violence in Iraq, ABC reporter Jake Tapper tried to find some lighter news. The ABC News team decided to cover a new Iraqi sitcom and the challenges of creating comedy for Iraqi television viewers.

The story quickly turned from good news to tragedy and fear as Jake’s contact, who was also the head of the entertainment division for Iraqi TV, was murdered during filming.

Jake Tapper concludes the story with these words: “And there went our effort to show comedians trying to make Iraqis smile again. It ended with the funeral of the man who helped us put the story together. A horrible, gruesome, perfect metaphor for daily life in Iraq.”

http://veredictum.com/

This will be hard… I only have about 3 seconds to devote to this. I’ll try.

Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and LAURA INGRAHAM.

And JWG, I never said nothing good has ever happened in Iraq, but its ridiculous for the pro-war Bush apologists to continually say everything is going swimmingly

Strawman alert!
Please provide evidence of a pro-war Bush apologist saying everything is great in Iraq.

No, they accuse the media of creating a “false” impression of what’s going on in Iraq today. There’s no question that it’s a great thing that 98% of children under five in Iraq have been vaccinated for polio. Or that we have completed over 100 potable water projects in Iraq using direct contracts.

But is the media supposed to repeate these facts after every daily car bombing? Would it temper reports of mass graves found in Baghdad if the reported always added, but don’t forget that Baghdad also has 5 million cell phone subscribers, and an estimated 2,000 Internet cafés. How stupid do you think the American people are?

In other words, what good is an internet cafe when the current Iraqi government is being accussed by Bush’s own State Department of torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or that country is experiencing large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs).

Hell, we’ve brought standard levels of water service to 7.2 million people. That’s great but it’s a country of 25 million.

Read through that State Department Report on the progress in Iraq. Many of those bullet points are statements like this:

“As these funds support on-the-ground projects in Iraq, the Iraqis will feel the impact of an improved economic infrastructure, a more vibrant democracy, and stronger civil society organizations.”

Okay, but this isn’t a statement of fact, it’s straight spin. This may or may not happen.

Elsewhere, there are ten lengthy bullet points under the heading: “The $2.9 billion remaining under the IRRF breaks down as follows:” And all of them are projects that WILL be begun, WILL be completed, WILL provide Iraqis with all these wonderful things. Not a begun, completed or provided project among them. There’s $157 million earmarked for “two major new prison construction projects, and a third renovation project.” Great. Now if only we could keep the insurgents from raiding the prisons we’ve already got:

“March 21 — Authorities say insurgents stormed a jail around dawn in the Sunni Muslim heartland Muqdadiyah, killing 19 police and a courthouse guard in a daring prison break that freed dozens of prisoners and left 10 attackers dead.”

The report on all the bad stuff is a report of facts, things actually happening. The report on all the good stuff comes padded with a lot of stuff that hasn’t happened yet. It hasn’t happened after billions of dollars and three years. Why? Because of all the stuff that in the bad report.

A report of human rights violations is supposed to contain incidents of human rights vilations, not restorations of infrastructure.

Okie dokie?

There is a difference between “getting better” and “going swimmingly,” unless you’ve been convinced the whole thing has been a disaster all along.

And JWG, I never said nothing good has ever happened in Iraq, but its ridiculous for the pro-war Bush apologists to continually say everything is going swimmingly when every day there are terrorists bombings killing both Americans and Iraqis.

What does this even mean? Are you being funny?

At the same time, the State Department reported the following human rights violations committed by the CURRENT Iraqi government:

The following human rights problems were reported:

* pervasive climate of violence
* misappropriation of official authority by sectarian, criminal, terrorist, and insurgent groups
* arbitrary deprivation of life
* disappearances
* torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment
* impunity
* poor conditions in pretrial detention facilities
* arbitrary arrest and detention
* denial of fair public trial
* an immature judicial system lacking capacity
* limitations on freedoms of speech, press, assembly, and association due to terrorist and militia violence
* restrictions on religious freedom
* large numbers of internally displaced persons (IDPs)
* lack of transparency and widespread corruption at all levels of government
* constraints on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
* discrimination against women, ethnic, and religious minorities
* limited exercise of labor rights

Woo Hoo! Victory!

You could also link to the Weekly Status Reports, but that might not be all bad news either.

Nice try, though. Better luck next time.