Matt Drudge rules their world ... and spreads a Big Lie on Iraq
from Attytood
Let's start by stating the obvious -- all Americans, regardless of their views on the war in Iraq or on politics in general -- don't want to see even one more of our countrymen and women killed over there.
And any legitimate news that U.S. troop deaths are sharply down, in a way that is statistically significant, would be welcomed with open arms by all. And such news would also have to become part of the Great National Debate over what happens next in the region.
Matt Drudge is running what purports to be just such a story on the top left of his incredibly influential Web site right now as I write this. The headline reads: "Baghdad security crackdown seriously curbs killings of US soldiers..."
No doubt, the gist of that headline is bounding around the airwaves of talk radio and in the electrons of cyberspace as we speak. And it is also influencing the judgment of America's news directors. Mark Halperin, the political director of ABC News, and John Harris, who had the same job at the Washington Post and now runs The Politico, wrote a book chapter recently entitled "How Matt Drudge Rules Our World."
He rules their world, and yet on the very day that the U.S. Senate is starting a major debate on the future of American troops in Iraq, Matt Drudge is spreading a Big Lie.
For one thing, if anyone clicks on the link and pays attention to the source, they'll see the article is not from a credible, independent media outlet but from the Kuwait News Agency (or KUNA). Kuwait is still America's biggest ally in the Gulf (for obvious reasons) and so the source of the story is a huge tell here.
(Continued here.)
Let's start by stating the obvious -- all Americans, regardless of their views on the war in Iraq or on politics in general -- don't want to see even one more of our countrymen and women killed over there.
And any legitimate news that U.S. troop deaths are sharply down, in a way that is statistically significant, would be welcomed with open arms by all. And such news would also have to become part of the Great National Debate over what happens next in the region.
Matt Drudge is running what purports to be just such a story on the top left of his incredibly influential Web site right now as I write this. The headline reads: "Baghdad security crackdown seriously curbs killings of US soldiers..."
No doubt, the gist of that headline is bounding around the airwaves of talk radio and in the electrons of cyberspace as we speak. And it is also influencing the judgment of America's news directors. Mark Halperin, the political director of ABC News, and John Harris, who had the same job at the Washington Post and now runs The Politico, wrote a book chapter recently entitled "How Matt Drudge Rules Our World."
He rules their world, and yet on the very day that the U.S. Senate is starting a major debate on the future of American troops in Iraq, Matt Drudge is spreading a Big Lie.
For one thing, if anyone clicks on the link and pays attention to the source, they'll see the article is not from a credible, independent media outlet but from the Kuwait News Agency (or KUNA). Kuwait is still America's biggest ally in the Gulf (for obvious reasons) and so the source of the story is a huge tell here.
(Continued here.)
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1 Comments:
Drudge will no doubt be quickly citing the new poll conducted by Opinion Research Business (ORB), a British market research company that funded its own survey of 5,019 Iraqis over the age of 18.
The results indicate that Iraqis may quickly be stealing the Minnesota slogan – “We like it here.”.
This poll seems to be opposite of everything that I have heard or read. Just last week, NPR was interviewing one of their Iraqi stringers who described day-to-day life in Baghdad … it was not pretty.
But the key comment from the poll may be buried in the last paragraph :
“One statistic that bodes ill for Iraq’s future is the number who have fled the country, many of them middle-class professionals. Baghdad has been hard hit by the brain drain — 35% said a family member had left the country.”
The stringer talked about how families have moved and carry multiple ID cards – Sunni, Shiitte and Christian … commenting that sometimes Christian works best. His wife is encouraging him to quit and move the family to Jordan.
Without knowing how the participants were selected and the phrasing of the questions, it is impossible to truly judge the validity of the poll. Or what pressure they may have been under in how to respond.
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