Framing the Media Question
Here are some very general points I'd put forth as basic and acceptable to left, right, and center. These seem to me to be germane to a discussion of the media and Iraq.
1. The default mode of the American media is skeptical, cynical, focused on violence and mayhem, on what is extraordinary. It trusts no one entirely and obeys the newsroom dogma that "if it bleeds, it leads."
2. The media always works from an unacknowledged view of the world with which some people will disagree. For instance: science is right, creationism is bogus. It is, however, in the interest of the media to keep this view fairly attuned to the majority view of its market. It's more true that the market shapes the media, over the long run, than the reverse. But there are times when this situation can temporarily flip-flop.
3. The media is human and as such is vulnerable to enthusiasms. Reporters can lose their objectivity in moments of excitement. Reporters often have glamorous perceptions of the fields they cover. Many cop reporters secretly want to be cops; many baseball reporters secretly want to be hometown sluggers. The very apex of the profession is to be a war correspondent. There are few things as exhilarating as a military campaign that is going fantastically well.
4. The media hates being lied to. Every president in my lifetime has learned this to his cost. Nobody likes president who lie habitually, but sometimes we want them to (Kennedy's popularity rose after his Bay of Pigs lies were revealed: the voters apparently liked the idea that he was willing to be aggressive and ... uh, ... creative). The media thinks "lying to the media" is almost an impeachable offense. Not everyone outside the media feels that way.
5. When the media awakens and finds it has lost its head in an excess of enthusiasm, it suffers a nasty case of embarrassment. When the media awakens and discovers it has made itself look doubly foolish by enthusiastically supporting something that turned out to have been based on false assumptions, it gets mean, nasty double-dog vengeful.
6. You can read 100 absolutely true news stories about, say "a majority black inner-city neighborhood," and retain them all in your mind and yet have a picture of daily family life there that is no more accurate than that of someone who has read none. See point 1. for "why."
1. The default mode of the American media is skeptical, cynical, focused on violence and mayhem, on what is extraordinary. It trusts no one entirely and obeys the newsroom dogma that "if it bleeds, it leads."
2. The media always works from an unacknowledged view of the world with which some people will disagree. For instance: science is right, creationism is bogus. It is, however, in the interest of the media to keep this view fairly attuned to the majority view of its market. It's more true that the market shapes the media, over the long run, than the reverse. But there are times when this situation can temporarily flip-flop.
3. The media is human and as such is vulnerable to enthusiasms. Reporters can lose their objectivity in moments of excitement. Reporters often have glamorous perceptions of the fields they cover. Many cop reporters secretly want to be cops; many baseball reporters secretly want to be hometown sluggers. The very apex of the profession is to be a war correspondent. There are few things as exhilarating as a military campaign that is going fantastically well.
4. The media hates being lied to. Every president in my lifetime has learned this to his cost. Nobody likes president who lie habitually, but sometimes we want them to (Kennedy's popularity rose after his Bay of Pigs lies were revealed: the voters apparently liked the idea that he was willing to be aggressive and ... uh, ... creative). The media thinks "lying to the media" is almost an impeachable offense. Not everyone outside the media feels that way.
5. When the media awakens and finds it has lost its head in an excess of enthusiasm, it suffers a nasty case of embarrassment. When the media awakens and discovers it has made itself look doubly foolish by enthusiastically supporting something that turned out to have been based on false assumptions, it gets mean, nasty double-dog vengeful.
6. You can read 100 absolutely true news stories about, say "a majority black inner-city neighborhood," and retain them all in your mind and yet have a picture of daily family life there that is no more accurate than that of someone who has read none. See point 1. for "why."
