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| Local Newspaper Editors slam AP about Iraq reporting |
| 2005-08-15 |
| From NYTimes -- Registration required, so here's the article.... from Drudge Editors Ponder How to Present a Broad Picture of Iraq By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE Rosemary Goudreau, the editorial page editor of The Tampa Tribune, has received the same e-mail message a dozen times over the last year. "Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq?" the anonymous polemic asks, in part. "Did you know that 3,100 schools have been renovated?" "Of course we didn't know!" the message concludes. "Our media doesn't tell us!" Ms. Goudreau's newspaper, like most dailies in America, relies largely on The Associated Press for its coverage of the Iraq war. So she finally forwarded the e-mail message to Mike Silverman, managing editor of The A.P., asking if there was a way to check these assertions and to put them into context. Like many other journalists, Mr. Silverman had also received a copy of the message. Ms. Goudreau's query prompted an unusual discussion last month in New York at a regular meeting of editors whose newspapers are members of The Associated Press. Some editors expressed concern that a kind of bunker mentality was preventing reporters in Iraq from getting out and explaining the bigger picture beyond the daily death tolls. "The bottom-line question was, people wanted to know if we're making progress in Iraq," Ms. Goudreau said, and the A.P. articles were not helping to answer that question. "It was uncomfortable questioning The A.P., knowing that Iraq is such a dangerous place," she said. "But there's a perception that we're not telling the whole story." Mr. Silverman said in an interview that he was aware of that perception. "Other editors said they get calls from readers who are hearing stories from returning troops of the good things they have accomplished while there, and readers find that at odds with the generally gloomy portrayal in the papers of what's going on in Iraq," he said. Mr. Silverman said the editors were asking for help in making sense of the situation. "I was glad to have that discussion with the editors because they have to deal with the perception that the media is emphasizing the negative," he said. "We're there to report the good and the bad and we try to give due weight to everything going on," he said. "It is unfortunate that the explosions and shootings and fatalities and injuries on some days seem to dominate the news." Suki Dardarian, deputy managing editor of The Seattle Times and vice president of the board of the Associated Press Managing Editors, said that the discussion was "a pretty healthy one." "One of the things the editors felt was that as much context as you can bring, the better," Ms. Dardarian said. "They wanted them to get beyond the breaking news to 'What does this mean?' " She also said that as Mr. Silverman and Kathleen Carroll, The A.P.'s executive editor, responded to the concerns, the editors realized that some questions were impossible to answer. For example, she said, the editors understood that it was much easier to add up the number of dead than to determine how many hospitals received power on a particular day or how many schools were built. Mr. Silverman said the wire service was covering Iraq "as accurately as we can" while "also trying to keep our people out of harm's way." "The main obstacle we face," he said, "is the severe limitation on our movement and our ability to get out and report. It's very confining for our staff to go into Baghdad and have to spend most of their time on the fifth floor of the Palestine Hotel," which is home to most of the press corps. The hotel was struck by a tank shell in 2003, killing two journalists. Iraq remains the most dangerous place in the world to work as a journalist, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. At least 13 media workers have been killed in Iraq so far this year, bringing the total to 50 since the war began in 2003. "Postwar Iraq is fraught with risks for reporters: Banditry, gunfire and bombings are common," the committee's Web site says. "Insurgents have added a new threat by systematically targeting foreigners, including journalists, and Iraqis who work for them." Mr. Silverman said The A.P. had already decided before the meeting that it would have Robert H. Reid, an A.P. correspondent at large who has reported frequently from Iraq, write an overview every 10 days. Mr. Silverman also said the wire service would make more effort to flag articles that look beyond the breaking news. As it turned out, he said, most of the information in the anonymous e-mail message had been reported by The A.P., but the details had been buried in articles or the articles had been overlooked. Before the meeting, The A.P. collected three articles by reporters for other news organizations who were embedded with American troops and sent them out over the wire to provide "more voice." Mr. Silverman said he wanted to do more of that but the opportunities were limited because there are only three dozen embedded journalists now, compared with 700 when the war began more than two years ago. Ms. Goudreau, for one, found the discussion useful. By the end, she said, editors were acknowledging that even in their own hometowns, "we're more likely to focus on people who are killed than on the positive news out of a school." |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #13 "also trying to keep our people out of harm's way." Why yes, hence the order that reporters were only to use booths, not barstools.... |
| Posted by: Pappy 2005-08-15 18:45 |
| #12 Anonymoose's idea sounds like there's a real opportunity here. I understand that it was Gulf War I that kicked CNN into the stratosphere - because they were there and had a jump on the competition. If the local's are feeling the pinch as Mrs. Davis surmises, and we *know* that military people on rotation are helping to get the meme across that Iraq is not all doom and gloom, then there is certainly an opportunity to get the message out. I would add to Anymoose's idea by having direct feeds to bloggers and blogging groups setup as well. That way there is some level of competition with the wire services such as AP. Then the locals at least have a choice.. |
| Posted by: Tony (UK) 2005-08-15 17:06 |
| #11 All those troops rotating back watch and read the news and are asking questions. And they are talking to family, friends and neighbors. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-08-15 16:45 |
| #10 The hotel was struck by a tank shell in 2003, killing two journalists. "Every time we point something that looks from a distance like an RPG at a tank, the tank starts shooting at us. Those tank guys must be pretty slow learners." |
| Posted by: Matt 2005-08-15 16:41 |
| #9 This is pretty funny. It sounds like the locals are starting to feel push back in their circulation numbers, but AP just can't get it. This must have been what it was like when the captain assembled a committee to design the new deck chair arrangement for the Titanic. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2005-08-15 16:11 |
| #8 Jirt, they really shouldn't hire any more stringers. For some reason, they always manage to find former Baathists or guys who have brothers in the terrorists' ranks. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-08-15 16:06 |
| #7 For example, she said, the editors understood that it was much easier to add up the number of dead than to determine how many hospitals received power on a particular day or how many schools were built. Maybe because you can sit on your ass at the hotel and just RETRANSMITS CENTCOM releases on casualties rather than actually work for living. What part of news GATHERING evades your imagination? "The main obstacle we face," he said, "is the severe limitation on our movement and our ability to get out and report. It's very confining for our staff to go into Baghdad and have to spend most of their time on the fifth floor of the Palestine Hotel,"... Then take a hint from Rummey - Hire Out! If grandmothers are signed up to drive trucks in convoys for Haliburton, then you should be able to find independents [who are not former Saddam government officials or members of AQ] who will actually do the fundamentals of going outside the Green Zone and collect stories. However, that presupposes that you actually want those stories. |
| Posted by: Jirt Omager7355 2005-08-15 15:47 |
| #6 This story is gut turning in it's outright bald faced lies. The AP and is members want the US to lose, they are willing to do everything they can to see the US lose. They hate George Bush so much they don't care how many US service men they help kill just like Viet Nam. The only thing lower than a lawyer is a "journalist" I thank God my child didn't choose either profession. Useless parasites. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet 0’ Doom 2005-08-15 15:19 |
| #5 Postwar Iraq is fraught with risks for reporters... Yeah, not like that WWII gravy train we rode, right, boys? I'm real proud of ya... |
| Posted by: Ernie Pyle 2005-08-15 14:56 |
| #4 "The main obstacle we face," he said, "is the severe limitation on our movement and our ability to get out and report. It's very confining for our staff to go into Baghdad and have to spend most of their time on the fifth floor of the Palestine Hotel," which is home to most of the press corps. Excepting Michael Yon and others who don't have a problem being around US soldiers. The hotel was struck by a tank shell in 2003, killing two journalists. Two years ago. During active fighting. When the building was being used to spot artillery onto our troops. The only people who care about the two numb-nuts who aimed a camera at a tank battle are reporters, who take it on faith that the US purposefully kills reporters. Ignoring, in the meantime, the reporters killed by the terrorists or killed while aiding terrorists. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2005-08-15 14:35 |
| #3 excellent point moose. But I don't think they will do it until they hit rock bottom. |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-15 14:32 |
| #2 I know a quick, painless, inexpensive and effective way of improving the quality of their reporting 10,000%. Simply accredit military personnel as journalists. In multiple units and at multiple levels of command there are already approved Public Information Officers whose *function* it is to prepare and provide press releases. But, on top of that, there are now around 200 soldiers who act as "stringers" with their blogs. If you put the two together, you not only get "play-by-play", you also get "color", all wrapped together in about a ream of editable copy a day. It has already been pre-approved for publication, so there isn't any tactical information in there. The best part, from the point of view of the wire services, would be that while a goodly amount of it is free, any nominal payments for "stringer" material could be made to non-profit organizations on behalf of the bloggers. Say the "widows and orphans" funds, so there is no "conflict of interest". Instantly, the credibility of the media skyrockets; the quality of their news attracts readers; and professional journalists on location get real muscle and respect, based on all the "amateurs" "working" for them. They can stay in the Green Zone, having reliable eyes and ears all over the country. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2005-08-15 14:20 |
| #1 They wanted them to get beyond the breaking news to 'What does this mean?' " Is this guy brain damaged or what? Hey Stupid! We don't want you to tell us what it means, we want your reporters to report something other than readily available accident stats. Pity the poor reporters and editors. They've come to view themselves as purveyors of wisdom - the keepers of the truth which only they can properly explain to their unwashed patrons. Must be a bummer to realize that not only do your patrons not give a darn what you think but if you don't provide them with what THEY want, you aren't going to have a job much longer. Now shut up and |
| Posted by: 2b 2005-08-15 13:57 |