Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Media suddenly noticing stars that entertain troops in Iraq

One of my pet peeves when Bush was president was the media's habit of completely ignoring celebrities and stars who went to the Persian Gulf to entertain the troops.

Now that Obama is in the White House, seems the media has started paying attention.

The Sacramento Bee carried an AP piece Monday on Stephen Colbert broadcasting his show from Iraq.




Where were the AP and Bee reports on celebrities in Iraq before Obama was elected? Among the many entertainers who went to the Persian Gulf was country superstar Carrie Underwood. I blogged about her here. Her trip to the Persian Gulf was ignored by the AP and the Sacramento Bee.



Maybe this phenomenon is because reporters see themselves like Stephen Colbert -- hip, cynical, smarter than everyone else -- the polar opposite of the patriotic, hick stars who went while Bush was president.
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I don't mean to complain about Colbert doing the right thing and going to Iraq. Good for him. But hey, media -- where have you been??

Below are my posts on stars that entertained troops in Iraq while Bush was president, mostly without notice from the media.
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Jimmy Buffett
Everclear
Toby Keith
Carrie Underwood
Kelli Pickler
Kix Brooks
Kid Rock
Third Day
Previous Toby Keith
Charlie Daniels
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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Iraq was exploding like a string of firecrackers for most of Bush's time in office. Should the media have ignored the hundreds of daily attacks and killings in favor of feel-good stories about celebrity junketers?

In your world the answer is apparently 'Yes'

H. Michael Sarkisian said...

Sure....nothing positive happened during the Bush years!!!!

Now that Obama has declared the U.S. a Moslem nation, I guess only positive things are going on in Iraq!

I love those anonymous posters. Sniping from the sidelines and gutless.

Anonymous said...

Eh...Country music is much less popular than it was 10 years ago, it's pretty irrelevant now except in rural areas; most country stars go unnoticed. And Colbert has really pushed his trip for months. He's a master of public relations and media management. How could this go unnoticed?

I don't see it as a failure by the media, but a failure of the country celebrities' pr machines who probably ignored msm because their fans aren't really engaged with it or even blatantly hostile to it a la Toby Keith.

Not to mention I imagine some celebrities' movements or appearances had to be kept more hush-hush at the height of the war.

Truth Hurts said...

"Should the media have ignored the hundreds of daily attacks and killings in favor of feel-good stories about celebrity junketers?"

Other than you, who suggested the media should have ignored any violence???

Anonymous said...

Too little, too late. Now a day, I ignore most print media, refusing to “buy” anything they print.

Dave D. said...

...Now that our soldiers have made that part of the world 'Safe for Democrats ' you'll prolly see a lot more noloads pestering the fighting men and women.

Anonymous said...

Aw, go ahead and watch it. Allow yourself to laugh because it sounds like you desperately need to develop a sense of humor.

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/229767/june-08-2009/stephen-strong--army-of-me---basic-training

Anonymous said...

I can understand when Obama and Colbert participate in this farce, they need to look like they support the troops even though they don't but when a US Commander (Gen. Ray Odierno) plays into the liberal PR machine it is disgusting and an insult to the military.

Bill C. said...

Your list of celebrities in Iraq is all fine and good, but last time I checked, none of them did a television broadcast from Baghdad to be aired on Comedy Central. That's the difference. It's not simply "celebrity goes to Iraq."