The top editor at U.S. News & World Report calls on American leaders to develop a better plan for “spinning the war.”
Yet the latest column from Mortimer B. Zuckerman also offers us a reminder of why Americans face an uphill battle in the spin campaign:
Yet the military cannot count on having “good stories” from every battle zone. This is a war, and it is going to get war coverage, reinforced by the natural media bias toward drama–and drama, in a guerrilla campaign, is on the side of the insurgents. Violence and murder grab people’s attention and drive ratings. Stories about rebuilding schools and hospitals will inevitably be overshadowed by the horror of explosions, killings, and kidnappings, by the plight of Iraqis who live in fear as death squads roam the streets, and by the disappearances of Iraqis in the middle of the night. No good is served by pretending that none of this happens.
Blaming the messenger for public unease is a mistake. As Cleopatra’s slave put it when she brought the news that Mark Antony had married Caesar’s sister: “I that do bring the news made not the match.”
