First, Laura Bush tells Nora O'Donell that we aren't getting good news from Iraq:
MSNBC Transcript:
NORAH O'DONNELL: I asked her about the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that we have out today that essentially says only 2 in 10 Americans approve of the job that the president is doing on Iraq. And Mrs. Bush defended her husband vigorously. Take a listen.
LAURA BUSH: It is not encouraging coverage for sure. There's no doubt about it. But I do know that there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren't covered. And I think that the drum beat in the country from the media, from the only way people know what is happening unless they happened to have a loved one deployed there, is discouraging.
O’DONNELL: She says that she hopes that there is "more balanced coverage by the media," in her words. She also said "I understand why the polls are what they are" she says, "because of the coverage we see every day in Iraq."
Laura hasn't read the Iraq Study Group's findings, apparently.
Editor & Publisher:
For years now, the debate has raged: Does the press overstate the level of violence in Iraq and ignore the overall positive aspect of the U.S. involvment? The Iraq Study Group report today, in its main claim that the situation in Iraq is now "grave" and "deteriorating" would seem to offer a clue to the answer, but more specific details -- providing a "slam dunk" (if we may use that phrase) on the side of the press -- are found in the Intelligence section of the report near its end, starting on page 93.
There we learn, bluntly, that "there is significant underreporting of the violence in Iraq" by the U.S. military. "The standard for recording attacks acts as a filter to keep events out of reports and databases," the report continues.
Looking at one day, the report found undercounting of violent attacks by more than 1000 percent.
OK, so maybe underreporting bad news isn't the same as reporting good news, but it's damned close. Not only is Iraq bad, but it's worse than we're hearing from the media.
Well, that is media other than FOX News. They'll make sure Laura gets the 'real' story from fellas what know from Iraq:
This is what FOX calls 'journalism'...
Tags: news | politics | FOX News | journalism | Iraq | propaganda | Laura Bush
