America Is Losing Iraq: Is Anybody Watching?

Danny Schechter, MediaChannel.org

...Iraq has been reduced to a litany of bloody incidents and body counts. For many, it is both boring and hard to follow, and so they tune out. Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, terrorists, insurgents, private militias...whatever happened to 'us' and 'them?' No wonder that when the JonBenet Ramsey story resurfaced the TV channels flocked to it like flies to a flame. When I worked for network TV, we had a term for stories we lost interest in. We would say, "Been there, done that!" In the nation's newsrooms, the triage has begun -- with Iraq sounding more and more like something that happened long ago. Get ready for more History Channel specials and somber retrospectives that help us to believe that we can be forgiven for thinking of the Iraq War in the past-tense. Besides, covering Iraq is so dangerous. Few reporters want to take so many risks for so little "face time" on TV. And there are hardly any " positive" stories to report -- even though the conservative media keep beating the bushes for them...

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