Journalists attempt to justify lack of media attention on low September Iraq casualty numbers

Noel Sheppard reports what two prominent journalists had to say in response to Howard Kurtz’s question on his CNN show Reliable Sources about why the media didn’t give much attention to last month’s low casualty numbers from Iraq.

Here’s the video:

(Via The Jawa Report)

Here’s the transcript (scroll).

The hypocrisy on why they didn’t give more attention to the lower numbers versus why they would give more attention if the casualty numbers were higher is very, very telling.

What with admissions like this (as well as others), it’s no wonder at least half of the American people don’t trust the mainstream media.

Update/Semi-related: Orin Kerr catches the NYT’s Frank Rich in a faux pas regarding his opinion piece today on Clarence Thomas, in which he tries to make the case that Thomas’ has “misrepresented” his past in his memoir, which was released last week. Ann Althouse catches some Rich errors, too.

3 Responses to "Journalists attempt to justify lack of media attention on low September Iraq casualty numbers"

NC Cop says:

October 7, 2007 at 8:37 pm

Wasn’t it just a few short months ago that the Army was being criticized for underreporting casualties due to them being related to criminal activity, sectarian violence, etc. Now the media is using the same excuse for NOT reporting the low casualty rate.

Absolutely priceless.

You can’t make this stuff up!
Great White Rat says:

October 7, 2007 at 10:45 pm

Q: Should that decline in Iraq casualties have gotten more media attention?

A (from WaPo): Not necessarily. The fact is we’re at the beginning of a trend and we’re not even sure it’s a trend yet.

Oh, right. But on the other hand, it casualties spike upward for a month, count on the WaPo to put it on page 1. No questions then about whether it’s a trend or not.

A (from CNN): We don’t know whether it’s a trend about specifically the decline in the number of US troops being killed in Iraq. This is not enduring progress.

Whoa…if you don’t know whether it’s a trend or not, how can you say it’s not enduring progress? Wishful thinking, perhaps? At least the CNN talking head was honest enough to admit that higher casualties would go right to the lead story.

The only thing important to the MoonbatStream Media is whether a news item can be spun to help their Dem allies.
Leslie says:

October 8, 2007 at 9:53 am

On Columnist Rich v. Justice Thomas:

To paraphrase Churchill: If Columnist Rich were to write a column criticizing Hell’s foreign policy, I should at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the comments section of ST’s blog.

Comments are closed.