"Media Ignores Combat Deaths, Reality of War"

Yesterday U.S. troops were wrapping up a major offensive to remove insurgents from the Iraqi city of Falluja. This is the first full-force military action since the declared end of major combat in May 2003, and its impact in terms of causalities and loss of life rival the early days of the war. Around 31 U.S. troops were killed and over 300 were injured with Iraqi troops losing six. The military does not have a definitive accounting of the loss life incurred by Iraqi civilians, but they report between 1000 and 2000 insurgents were killed.

Despite these heavy losses, which occurred right after a heated election and in the long-feared and speculated about urban combat situation, American media pursued this story with as much zeal as reporting on paint drying. The big story this week that had every cable new channel salivating was the guilty verdict in the Scott Peterson murder trial. This reliance on sensationalism over substance is a reprehensible misuse of public airwaves.

The media has always had a responsibility to critically analyze the military goals of the United States. Unfortunately the unfailing lap-dog mentality of the media prior to the Iraq War gave the Bush administration free reign to carry out an unjustified attack. Now that the nation is faced with four more years of a trigger-happy administration, the media must doggedly pursue accountability for current and future military actions.

Since the very first graphic and theme song for the many "countdowns" to war were being envisioned, the media has been overjoyed at the prospects of the golden ratings a war would produce. Although hype was enormous, actual critical coverage was scant. A Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting report found major cable news networks relied on official government sources for most coverage, and as a result, two-thirds of all sources were pro-war. This hardly constitutes a balanced debate on the merits of an impending war.

Beyond in studio coverage, networks were given unprecedented access with reporters embedded with U.S. troops. However unique and historic this access proved to be, the lack of independent reporting further restricted the range of coverage. Gone are the days of epic coverage from war correspondents like Ernest Hemingway and Edward R. Murrow reporting scenes from World War II. Or the "living room" coverage of Vietnam with the unforgettable pictures of young girls dowsed with napalm running naked through the streets or the spilt second face of death on a communist sympathizer, as he is shot in the street. These are the images and stories that allowed the American public a full understanding of the consequences and successes of war.

Today the media mentions the reported 100,000 Iraqis lost in this war in passing and moves on to less important issues. We cannot afford to ignore the cries of observers who say the real stories are not being reported. Media must divorce itself of ratings-rich infotainment and serve its true purpose of accurate and forceful reporting of government.