Myth: Americans tuned out Iraq * Fact: The press tuned out Iraq (Boehlert)

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http://mediamatters.org/columns/200804020003


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Last November, I noted that ABC's Nightline, its long-running signature news program, had essentially boycotted Iraq as a news story. I found that over an 18-week span, from mid-July through late November, Nightline aired approximately 230 separate news segments, only one of which was about events on the ground in Iraq. In the 17 weeks since then, Nightline has continued to look the other way, which means that over a nearly nine-month span, during which time more than 300 reports aired, Nightline has effectively ignored the war in Iraq as a news event.

It. Does. Not. Exist.

Just imagine what kind of uninspired effort ABC News would put forward if Iraq were not a "very important story."

We all know that the run-up to the Iraq war represented a colossal failure for the Fourth Estate. Now the media's collective disregard for the war five years later represents the second inexcusable breakdown of the press corps.

via Eschaton