Myth: Americans Tuned Out Iraq Fact: The Press Tuned Out Iraq

As news outlets scramble to revive their Baghdad bureaus in the wake of disturbing new violence, it's important to understand that despite the spin, American news consumers did not walk away from Iraq. The press did.

According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism's News Coverage Index, reports about the situation in Iraq accounted for just 2 percent of total news coverage from January through March. Eight months ago, Iraq reporting accounted for 15 percent of the total news coverage. Yes, consumer interest in Iraq has crept downward since last summer, but it certainly hasn't plummeted by 87 percent, the way the news coverage has.

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.

Read the whole Media Matters column here.

Comments

[Benny59]

There are still 160,000+ families who hang on any information they can find about what is going on in Iraq. If the press chooses to pursue their own guilty involvement in this mess, the least they could do is continue to live up to their reputation by providing copious amounts of slant and bias. Bad information is only slightly better than no information, but at least we can feel like we are keeping tabs on our boy and are smart enough to apply the filters when necessary. I feel this war is at least half as important as the election and the economy and deserves the coverage. Can't remember the last time I watched a Pentagon briefing.

[LizM]

American news consumers may not have tuned out Iraq in huge numbers, but the vast majority of the American electorate certainly has. And, those voters who are consuming what little news comes to them through the media about Iraq are getting a wholly inaccurate picture of what is happening in Iraq today and what will come next.

[Durango]

I don't think that is true.

I think Iraq is the defining issue in the upcoming election. Iraq symbolizes the incompetence of the Republican Party in the minds of America. No matter what people tell pollsters.

If the Dems win in a major landslide, like I certainly hope, it will be first and foremost because of the Iraqi War.