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Michael Yon: "Resistance is futile: You will be (mis)informed"
I was at home in the United States just one day before the magnitude hit me like vertigo: America seems to be under a glass dome which allows few hard facts from the field to filter in unless they are attached to a string of false assumptions. Considering that my trip home coincided with General Petraeus testimony before the US Congress, when media interest in the war was (Im told) unusually concentrated, its a wonder my eardrums didnt burst on the trip back to Iraq. In places like Singapore, Indonesia, and Britain people hardly seemed to notice that success is being achieved in Iraq, while in the United States Britney was competing for airtime with O.J. in one of the saddest sideshows on Earth.No thinking person would look at last years weather reports to judge whether it will rain today, yet we do something similar with Iraq news. The situation in Iraq has drastically changed, but the inertia of bad news leaves many convinced that the mission has failed beyond recovery, that all Iraqis are engaged in sectarian violence, or are waiting for us to leave so they can crush their neighbors. This view allows our soldiers two possible roles: either victim caught in the crossfire or referee between warring parties. Neither, rightly, is tolerable to the American or British public. Today I am in Iraq, back in a war of such strategic consequence that it will affect generations yet unbornwhether or not they want it to. Hiding under the covers will not work, because whether it is good news or bad, whether it is true or untrue, once information is widely circulated, it has such formidable inertia that public opinion seems impervious to the corrective balm of simple and clear facts. . . . To illustrate the absurdity to which this conceit of the collective has grown, Im tempted to borrow from the boy in the fairy tale, only this time pointing to and shouting at the doomsday-sayers parading by: Hey, they arent wearing any clothes. . . . Except in this case, I realize I am not a lone voice. Furthermore, with the help of other clear-eyed individuals, I may actually be in a unique position to do something to remedy this, if the experience I had with the AP response to my challenge to investigate and report on the disturbing gravesites in the Al Hamira village is any guide. Although I cant answer to the cause of the problem, I humbly offer permission to media outlets to republish excerpts of the dispatch or the dispatch in its entirety, including my photographs from the story (if used as they are in the dispatch) at no cost during the month of July 2007. I only ask that the site receive proper attribution and that any publication taking me up on the offer email the website with the details. . . . That offer was dying on the vine until Bob Owens at Confederate Yankee took the Associated Press to task for their bungled reportage of a different mass graves news story, using my dispatch as a comparison. Although it took a little back and forth, and some additional pressure from all the other bloggers who started tracking on the topic, the AP finally dispatched a reporter to the scene. The resulting article was picked up by at least one other major media outlet, reaching thousands more people. This got me to thinking: what if I made a similar offer on a more permanent basis to a large media syndication, say, the National Newspaper Association? This is where my readers come in, at least those among them who share the concern that the distorted picture most Americans have of the situation in Iraq has strategic (and disastrous) implications for this war, our national security, and the stability of one of the most volatile regions on the planet. Those readers can first check to see if their local paper is a member of the NNA. Because only NNA members will be able to . . . print excerpts of Michael Yons dispatches, including up to two of his photographs from each dispatch. Online excerpts may use up to 8 paragraphs, use 1-3 photos, and then link back to the full dispatch on his site saying To continue reading, click here. If their local paper is a member of NNA, readers can contact the editor, urging their participation. [If Bob Owens experience is a reliable indicator, this might take several, uh, prompts.] By encouraging their local daily or weekly newspapers to reprint these dispatches in their print editions, more people without internet access can begin to see a more accurate reflection of the progress I have observed and chronicled . . . . There is a cost to this. By making these stories available to NNA members at no cost, I have to forego any license fees they might otherwise generate. Although the newspapers who participate in this venture wont have any additional costs, that also wont reduce the expenses I incur to continue producing work that many commenters say needs to be before a wider audience. But it certainly gives those same commenters an easy way to put some walk behind all their talk. Reader support is critical and highly appreciated, because I depend on my readers for all the funds required to do this work. I have been trying to thank each and every person who has helpedsomething of a feat in itselfbut I want to say it clearly: Your support is hugely appreciated. . . . OK, kids, here's what to do: 1. Contact your local newspaper, and urge them to pick up Michael Yon's dispatches. 2. If you have the scratch, hit Michael Yon's PayPal link. 3. (This is my idea.) E-mail the Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web" every time that Michael Yon rolls out a new dispatch and urge James Taranto to flag it in his column. Better yet, e-mail WSJ Op-Ed editor Paul Gigot or assistant editor Brendan Miniter and suggest to them that they pick up Michael Yon as a permanent columnist. Posted by: Mike 2007-10-22 |
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