Most Dubious Moment in War Coverage

[John Cole]

Yesterday, I tuned in for a few moments to watch Dan Rather fill time. While he was speaking, he cut to a reporter in Kuwait, let's call him David Hedison, who was wearing a gas mask while reporting. David spoke for a few moments before Dan cut in to tell viewers who might have just tuned in that David was wearing a gas mask.

For a minute there, I thought I had stumbled into a real low-budget remake of The Fly.

John

[andyfox]

My favorite was a report from Baghdad at dawn where the reporter said daylight was coming and it was coming very fast.

[Billy LTL]

Frankly I find many of the CNN reporters difficult to stomach. They're covering this war as if it were the Superbowl.

A little feigned detachment would go a long way to adding a touch of professionalism to their overall file.

[andyfox]

TV news in general has become entertainment. Your Super Bowl analogy is perfect: this is the big one, the one we've been waiting for, complete with instant replays. I never knew Baghdad was so green at night.

The tickers at the bottom of the screen are particularly infuriating. I think I saw recipes going by on one station.

[Billy LTL]

I think I saw recipes going by on one station.

I take it we weren't being advised how whip up a delightful cog au vin with crepe suzette for dessert?

[andyfox]

I think it was freedom suzette. . .

[Glenn]

On Fox News last night at about 3am est, they had those stupid video phone picutres of the tanks driving through the sand and they were talking about how interesting it was etc... I was quite surprised when they told me that live blurry pictures of sand were interesting but they are the media and thus know better than I do. Anyhow, they passed a flock of something and the host said something like "John, you just passed some animals...could you tell were they sheep or goats?". Unprecedented coverage.

[BruceZ]

I thought the Bedoin encampments were fascinating. People living in the middle of the desert.

[Glenn]

People who live in the middle of the desert are kind of silly--unless they build extravagent hotels and casinos and golf courses of course. I didn't see any people last night though, just the flock of indeterminate mammals. Oh and there was one stray goat at another point too.

[BruceZ]

There was a hilarious moment on the FOX morning show a few weeks ago. They had a guy on who was an expert in the type of insects the soldiers might have to contend with in the desert. He seemed authoritative and in control. First he showed a scorpion that looked fearsome, but was actually benign, and he let it crawl all over the hosts. Then he carefully took another one out of a jar with tweezers, and just as he was saying "now this is a truely deadly creature", he dropped it on the floor right in front of judge Napalitano and the leggy female host. He managed to chase it down and retrieve it before it did any damage. They just went on without missing a beat.