War is suffering, and so is our coverage of it.

When people die, who is there to tell about it?
When countries are attacked, how will the world know?
When oppression comes not only from those who instill fear and hate, but also those who claim to battle them, who should demand answers?

The answer, of course, is journalists. But therein lies the problem. I don’t believe there is even a fraction of the reporting we need going on in Iraq, and unless something changes, I think there ever will be. Whether it’s because of funding, danger or a myriad of other reasons, we are not covering the war the way it should be covered, at least in the “mainstream” media outlets.
Remember Ernie Pyle? Yeah, that guy who gave his life to show Americans what war was really like? He evoked emotion. Sometimes it was anger, sometimes sadness and usually, he offered hope. We’re short on writers who do that for the Iraq struggle. One of the few who is actually trying to get at the realities of this deadly farce called a war is Michael Yon. He has been a self-sustaining journalist who is still embedded in Iraq. His dispatches are gritty, filled with content and emotion that cuts right to the core.
“Much more perilous is the often toxic nature of relations between journalists and the military, which has been steadily eroding since the start of this war,” Yon wrote. “When it comes to assigning blame for the public’s lack of support for this war, many are quick to point accusingly at journalists, but I cast no blame on any journalist for not being here.”
The reason Yon doesn’t blame journalists is because the conditions and the military have made it nearly impossible to report in the country. “Journalists who roam the battlefield with the troops and write freely for long periods are completely gone. That doesn’t mean good journalists are gone. There are plenty of those, but mostly they are somewhere else, or they only come to Iraq for quick tours.”
To me, this is a very sad fact, not just for writers, but also for the nation. It was the newspapers that constantly threw Vietnam into the public’s face, until they couldn’t take it any more. If there is anything that is notable about this “war,” it is the disturbing lack of protest. Yes, people are discontent, and even angry that our men and women are dying in the Middle East. But so few are taking to the streets, so many remain silent.
I think a very good solution to this is for publishers and editors of our major metros to start cranking up the heat. The more our generation is afraid to question authority, namely in the form of our religious and political leaders, the more we are all just sheep. As journalists it is our role to inform the people of what is going on, no matter how hard it is to stomach. I say put a picture of a dead soldier on the front page every damn day until we are out of that wretched country. The American people should demand this. War is gruesome, awful and hideously bad for nearly everyone involved in it.
If we are not showing this reality every day, someone’s not doing their job.