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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
I’m back.
It’s been a couple of months since my last letter and I’ve noticed that the Arizona Republic’s leaders still don’t seem to feel like the war in Iraq is page one material, so I’m again taking up pen and paper to point out the absurd.
In the first week of February, there have been zero articles about the war in Iraq on page one. Zero. If one read the paper over this past week, the only thing that was felt important enough to mention more than once on A1 was a FREAKING GOLF TOURNAMENT!!!!! Bill Murray, a COMEDIAN, got his picture on page one twice this last week and was also the feature of a page one article. Meanwhile, nowhere on page one was there a single mention of any of the EIGHTEEN U.S. SOLDIERS WHO WERE KILLED last week.
I guess it’s bread and circuses time at the Republic. Just read about all those cool people who hang out at the Crow’s Nest. Or if you’re into hockey instead, read about how popular Wayne Gretzky is in Canada. That was on page one too.
But whatever you do, don’t open up the paper and dig in too far, or you might read about dead soldiers and civilians, tortured Iraqis, U.S. contractors trying to embezzle millions, lack of progress with the Iraqi military infrastructure, a request for another $120 billion for the wars, the abandonment of over 60% of water and sanitation reconstruction projects and the spread of unrest and violence to previously stable southern Iraq. Oh, and did I mention the escape of 13 al-Qaeda members, including one who had been sentenced to death for his role in the U.S.S. Cole bombings?
Until next week,
desertbug
Though I haven't been in AZ that long, your observations are all too common. It's clear I'm consorting with a distinct minority of Arizonians, those capable of discriminating thought as well as other vices, but I'm fascinated by the Republic's refusal to cover any meaningful world or national news.
I suspect the Republic's advertising revenues and their monopoly position as the only statewide newspaper insulates them from the vagaries of the marketplace and permits them to flip off folks like us.
A telling incident:
My quite elderly mother, who still lives alone, cancelled her subscription to the Sunday Republic because she had difficulty just picking up the damned thing to get in into her house.
On learning of my mother's decision, a neighbor volunteered to give her her copy of the Sunday Republic because, "I keep the advertisements and recycle the newspaper anyway..."
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