Monday, May 28, 2007

Play It Again, Sam

Networks sometimes run war movie marathons on Memorial Day as a way to remember the sacrifices of the past, and the present. Turner Classic Movies is doing it today, with such genre greats as Stalag 17, Bridge on the River Kwai, Soldier's Story and Where Eagles Dare airing later today. Every one of these movies is one that I'd recommend, particularly the first two.

But I have an idea for how other networks, the news networks, can remember and memorialize the men and women who have lost their lives or their limbs in the armed services, particularly those who have been killed and wounded in the last four years.

I think CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC should re-air the first 24 hours of their initial coverage of the War in Iraq from 2003.

What would we see?

Would we see the network shouting heads so busy waving the flag that they forget to do critical reporting?

Would we see these journalists parroting administration talking points as they sought to fill up the news hour?

Would these journalists, particularly the "celebrity" journalists who are on the D.C. cocktail party circuit and are on a first-name basis with the wives and husbands of Senators, be a little embarrassed by their cheer leading?


1 comment:

Michael said...

You make some excellent points about the new coverage of the war. Sadly, it's one of the reasons why the public is so grossly misinformed about it.

By the way, I love Bridge on the River Kwai!