Old Media versus The New Media

Anytime I explain to people that getting their news by watching TV or reading a newspaper is the wrong thing to do as what "news" they report is usually incorrect, I get lots of blank stares, comments like "you're full of.....", or unbelieving smiles that mean their too polite to say anything about my absurd belief. Seldom do I actually convince anyone that they need to do research on what their told via those outlets. I'm guessing it's easier to just believe what is presented than to take the time to verify. With this attitude though, we get a majority of Americans that believe Iraq never had any WMD's, the 911 commission determined that Iraq had no connections to terrorists, and the people of Iraq were actually better off under Sadaam's rule than they are now. All of which are documented to be false and easy to verify as being false. Jeff Emanuel over at Redstate has a great post up called All Combat Zone Journalism is NOT Created Equal that covers this and the reasons that old media gets it wrong in regards to the Iraq front in the global war on terror. It's a piece he wrote to point out that, when CBS sends Katie Couric over there, don't expect her to report on any actual news on Iraq. He also points out that, to get actual news, you need to read Michael J. Totten, Michael Yon, Pat Dollard, Bill Roggio, and others that are actually out there in the trenches and are the only reliable way for you to get a feel for what's going on.

• “The future of our involvement in Iraq will be decided when the Petreaus report is released,” said CBS’s Kaplan. “If you're going to go to the Middle East at all, this is the time.”

  Unfortunately, this statement provides all of the evidence that is needed to see that their intent is more to have an exotic Evening News backdrop than it is to go the extra mile in hopes of achieving more accurate and informative stories.

  “The time” to be in the Middle East was months ago – and the place to be, in order to capture the essence of what is really going on there, is on the front lines, alongside those fighting this war, and in full view of events as they have unfolded.

Speaking of that, Michael Yon has his latest dispatch up. It's part three of a four parter called Ghosts of Anbar. This one is a good one to give you a feel for Anbar province and the progress being built upon The Anbar Salvation Council's work of late last year, early this year.

• To many of the Iraqis I’ve spoken with, terrorists are fair game. Kill them. But if we kill justice while doing so, we will create terrorists out of farmers. Here the Marines are creating farmers, police officers, shepherds, and entrepreneurs out of insurgents. To do that, they have to be seen as men who respect and honor legitimate systems of government and justice.