American Journalism Review: Whatever Happened To Iraq?

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/86930

Whatever Happened to Iraq?

By Sherry Ricchiardi, American Journalism Review. Posted June 4, 2008.

How America's mainstream media has let the country's third longest war in history slip off the radar screen.

Armando Acuna, public editor of the Sacramento Bee, turned a Sunday column into a public flogging for both his editors and the nation's news media. They had allowed the third-longest war in American history to slip off the radar screen, and he had the numbers to prove it.

The public also got a scolding for its meager interest in a controversial conflict that is costing taxpayers about $12.5 billion a month, or nearly $5,000 a second, according to some calculations. In his March 30 commentary, Acuna noted: "There's enough shame … for everyone to share."

He had watched stories about Iraq move from 1A to the inside pages of his newspaper, if they ran at all. He understood the editors' frustration over how to handle the mind-numbing cycles of violence and complex issues surrounding Operation Iraqi Freedom. "People feel powerless about this war," he said in an interview in April.

Acuna knew the Sacramento Bee was not alone.

For long stretches over the past 12 months, Iraq virtually disappeared from the front pages of the nation's newspapers and from the nightly network newscasts. The American press and the American people had lost interest in the war.

The decline in coverage of Iraq has been staggering.

During the first 10 weeks of 2007, Iraq accounted for 23 percent of the newshole fornetwork TV news. In 2008, it plummeted to 3 percent during that period. On cable networks it fell from 24 percent to 1 percent, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism.

The numbers also were dismal for the country's dailies. By Acuna's count, during the first three months of this year, front-page stories about Iraq in the Bee were down 70 percent from the same time last year. Articles about Iraq once topped the list for reader feedback. By mid-2007, "Their interest just dropped off; it was noticeable to me," says the public editor.

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[liberal N proud]

1. Hush, the voter might realize they were angry about the illegal war

But with gas prices, recession and primary season, they have been able to keep it out of the news and out of many peoples minds. Heck-of-a-job Media


If the talking heads are not talking about it, millions don't think it.

[G_j]

2. $5,000 a second

cheap
:sarcasm:

[KG]

3. hmm, could it be that media corps are owned by arms manufacturers?

[Hissyspit]

4. .