Whoops, a little truth came out

in the early morning on Tuesday, the 31st of January 2006 by Chad

“I am sorry to hear that Bob Woodruff and his cameraman was hurt in Iraq, but it seems like thousands of GI’s and civilians have been seriously injured, and we hear very little about them,” an Arlington reader said.”It’s a tragedy of course that the ABC crew has been seriously injured in Iraq — but does it warrant the ‘breaking news’ coverage it’s received?” said another in Bainbridge, Ga. “American soldiers and contractors are injured and worse every day over there and they barely get a few odd grafs.”

A Madison, Wis., reader added: “Are they any more newsworthy than the injuries that befall our soldiers each and every day? Is this just media myopia?”

Fair and sensible questions. A little too insightful. They’re response?

These are fair questions. Obviously, as an anchor for a major network, Woodruff enjoys a certain degree of fame, and famous people tend to get more media coverage. After all, Peter Jennings was only one of many who died of lung cancer, Martha Stewart was only one of many convicted in an insider trading case, and Kobe Bryant was only one of many accused of sexual assault. The outpouring of e-mail to ABC about Woodruff and camerman Doug Vogt underscores the point.

Famous people also tend to become symbols, and Woodruff has become emblematic of the vulnerability of U.S. troops to these roadside IEDs, and of the media’s difficulty in covering this war. Everyone I’ve talked to at ABC stresses that they understand that many American soldiers have been killed or wounded by these bombs, even though their names are not widely known. Woodruff and Vogt, of course, risked their lives precisely so they could tell the story of the war, and specifically whether Iraqi troops are able to assume more of the burden from the American forces.

So they’re not just another statistic, like the rest of our guys in Arlington or at Fort Sam Houston’s burn center, for example.

“Many journalists are forbidden by their security consultants from leaving the confines of their hotels. Though not in the protected Green Zone, those hotels are surrounded by armed guards and concrete blast walls. Often, news organizations send their Iraqi employees to do interviews and gather information.

So, all of a sudden its not that they’re lazy and incompetent. These brave descendents of the Watergate reporters are letting mean old security consultants tell them the best way to report the war from Iraq is in their living room in northern Virginia.