I want more than daily death tolls

I feel like I watch the news more often than most people my age. As a journalist, I basically feel responsible to do so. But when it comes to the war in Iraq, I feel as if I'm lost and know little to nothing about the truth of what is happening over there. And that bothers me.

The whole situation in Iraq has irritated me since the day America sent troops over there. But more than three years later, I feel even more annoyed. That's not necessarily because of what's happening, although that is factored in. But instead, it stems from frustration I feel because of the media's focus in Iraq. It's the bombings of the day and what event and place provided the highest number of deaths.

I want to know more. I need more than a daily story. I don't want to see polls about what my peers think about who is winning the war. I want a journalist who spends his or her time there to tell that to me him or herself, to tell me what they see on a daily basis. I realize some TV stations may not be able to answer my questions correctly about who is actually winning the war. And therefore, I’m forced to formulate my own opinions about what is really taking place. But that opinion shouldn't come with such little evidence. I should able to base it on more than the event of the day in Iraq. I should be able to look at the whole picture and from that, hopefully I can even reasonably see the future of the war. But, unfortunately, I feel like I don't have the opportunity to do either.

It's a journalist's job to investigate and answer these questions for me. It's the journalists' job to inform the public of the war in Iraq without just focusing on the bombings and the deaths. The reality is that American soldiers are dying and risking their lives to protect my freedom. As citizens of a country involved in the war, deserve to know what's going on. And the person that should be informing me is the journalist.

I want to hear a soldier's point a view. I'm tired of hearing what our president has to say about the war. I'm tired of relying on those statements and having no evidence to believe or disprove them. I want to see what it's like for a soldier to risk his life for this country. I don't want to hear about the daily death toll. I want the news coverage to include stories of the living soldiers. Their voices deserve to be heard. And as a citizen of this country, I deserve to hear it. If you're going to truly cover the war as a TV station, then cover it. Don't give me the death toll and a story on the latest bombing without giving these other stories.

I see my friends get into arguments constantly about who is winning the war. And it saddens me that I feel like neither are right. Neither has evidence to really back up what he is saying. Instead, we rely on political agendas and the statements from politicians living in the United States. At times I wonder if they know much more than I do.

I don't know what it would be like to cover the war in Iraq. It's a job I don't think I would have the guts to do. And I admire those who chose that path. But if you're going to chose that path, then don't go for the shock story of the day. For the first few weeks or months into the war, that might have been what us viewers were looking for. But four years later, I want more.

Give me an overall outlook. I can hardly stand to watch the daily shock story anymore. As a journalist covering the war, remember your first obligation is to all of us viewers back home, the viewers left questioning and wondering about the real situation of a war in which we have friends or family fighting in.

As for my final request, please stop arguing about the justifications for the entry into the war. It’s been four years. Whether it was justified or not, we are in this war. Let’s focus on the now. Let’s focus on what the outlook is for the war now and not whether we should or shouldn’t be there at all.