Yesterday I reviewed Leila Fadel's approach to covering the Iraq war. I noted she focuses on the Iraqis who have been victimized by Americans and by the war. Fadel is not the only MSM reporter with this focus. Tina Sussman, bureau chief for the LA Times, likes Fadel's focus on Iraqi victims. Here is Sussman confessing she and Fadel don't care for stories about the troops:When I read her stories, I feel like I'm reading the stories that Iraqis would like people to hear. That isn't something that always comes through in conflict reporting, where there often is a tendency to focus on men in suits and uniforms.
Got that? Fadel and Sussman sneer at coverage of men in suits and uniforms. This shift in focus is not a welcome development. And it is a far cry from the kind of coverage Americans got from Ernie Pyle during WW II.
Writing in a simple style, Pyle portrayed for Americans how their soldiers lived, fought, and died. The soldiers loved him, and he wrote sincerely about their experiences. What's more, Pyle knew he was an important link between the troops and the families back home.
Pyle was killed in 1945 by a Japanese sniper on the small island of Ie Shima, near Okinawa. Heartbroken troops erected a sign where he was killed. "At this spot the 77th Infantry Division lost a buddy, Ernie Pyle." The above photo shows the sign erected by American troops.
Wikipedia entry on Pyle here. One of Pyle's most famous stories is "The Death of Captain Waskow". Another famous Pyle story is "Buck Eversole: One of the Great Men of the War."
