Most Dubious Moment in War Coverage

[Billy LTL]

they had those stupid video phone picutres of the tanks driving through the sand

Yes, I watched some 20 minutes of "live, never-before-seen exclusive video" of a bunch of Bradley fighting vehicles racing through the desert at night. The reporter certainly made it sound exciting.

Too bad it was pitch dark where he was. And that he didn't have a night vision lens for the piece of crap thingy he was calling a camera.

Still, better that than watching live coverage of bombs and missiles falling on Bagdhad. Am I the only one who thinks there's something a bit wrong with that?

I mean, I watch the fireballs too and I congratulate the journalists who are in Iraq, especially Bagdhad, for being there. But it's almost presented as entertainment. Or maybe that's just how I see it. Anyhow, I've stopped watching it for the most part. I like the pictures of Iraqis surrendering though.

[Phat Mack]

I like your Super Bowl analogy , too. Barabara Tuchman wrote a couple of books ( I think it was her): Citizen Hearst and A Splendid Little War. It was her belief that the Spanish-American War was caused (at least in part) by a circulation war between two New York newspapers, the World and the Journal -- one owned by Hearst and one owned by Pulitzer. They kept trying to outdo each other with their inventions of Spanish atrocities.

I think the networks are probably getting good numbers with this war, but I doubt it is really more cost effective than the Super Bowl. On the other hand, it's not the networks that are footing the bills. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[IrishHand]

During a commercial of the ND/Illini game, I made the mistake of flipping through FoxNews. This reporter who had spent a lot of time in Baghdad was asked by the studio host whether Hussein was a popular, venerated leader as the Middle Eastern media seems to portray. The reporter responded that everyone he spoke to did in fact support and apparently believe in Hussein. However, he also said that in walking by Hussein's palaces and the high-end car dealerships and furniture stores of the Iraqi elite, one could not help but notice the stark disparity between the average person and the ruling elite. As such, he concluded that the Iraqi people, despite what they'd told him, must surely hate Hussein's ministers, associates and friends, which he kindly labelled "a gang of thungs and crooks" (based presumably on their material wealth - good thing that all our politicians and leaders aren't any better off than the average American). I laughed myself right to the next station.

[The_Baron]

I'm still holding out the big prize for the nitwit with the 7th Cav who showed,"four members of this valiant unit, holding a serious and private conference in the face of the withering fire just over the horizon."
The four guys were lined up next to one of the Abrams, taking a leak. Fortunately the camera operator seemed to figure it out and the image snapped to the horizon to see some smoke/dust/fog/clouds... errr... the withering fire.