Mainstream US Media Suffers From Iraq War....

US media is whining about its loss of influence and is blaming its downfall on Iraq, here.

"If you believe the liberal media's reporting on the American military effort in Iraq, you're almost forced to be ashamed of America," the Media Research Center, a conservative media-watchdog group, said in a recent message to potential donors.

Army Capt. Sherman Powell reinforced that view with his comments during an interview Wednesday with "Today" show host Matt Lauer in Baghdad. Lauer wondered how troop morale could be so high, given the problems in Iraq.

"If I got my news from the newspapers also, I'd be pretty depressed as well," Powell replied. "Those of us who've actually had a chance to get out and go on patrols and meet the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police and go on patrols with them, we are very satisfied with the way things are going here."

I have been largely unimpressed with newspaper and television reporting for years. This is largely due to what I call agenda journalism. Media has an agenda or viewpoint that they are foisting upon the public and coverage of issues tend to lean supporting these positions. Other news is not covered.

Why has there not been some reporting on humanitarian progress in Iraq? No reporting on these things imply that there has been no progress. Is this the case? We just don't know do we?

And what about the Dan Rather fake memos incident? A few years ago, this story would never have been debunked and the media got caught this time with their pants down. Why should we ever trust these guys again? Actually, we shouldn't and they need to reevaluate what their role is. I think that newspapers and TV should be reporting the facts. We are smart enough to decide for ourselves what is important.