This may surprise you, but the American news media have hardly any reporters in Iraq, and the ones that are there hang out in Baghdad. I know, I was shocked too:
Journalists are reviled by many for alleged negativism and over-focus on bad news in Iraq. Or perhaps the problem is: Their employers are just trying to do it on the cheap. Ironically, the same media that criticizes the U.S. for sending too few troops to stabilize Iraq send too few reporters to cover much more than the dramatic bombings around Baghdad.
So how can these bureaus operate with such a lack of reporters? The answer is, they employ inexpensive local stringers. I suppose that's what they have to do. It's either that or we'd all be reading articles about what bureau chiefs had for lunch in the hotel restaurant that day.
Posted by floridacracker at April 26, 2006 06:38 PMMSM - hiring stringers to do work Americans won't do! ¡Si, se puede! Allahu Akbar!
I've also heard it said that the MSM spin on illegal aliens in the US would be much different if media jobs were being taken by "undocumented workers".
Posted by: tfhr at April 27, 2006 12:22 AMFunny, but I've thought the same.
Posted by: Donnah at April 28, 2006 01:25 AMYour other post about Ralph Peters' article on treasonous activity by reporters adds the next layer onto this deal regarding jihadi stringers in the employment of our MSM's operations abroad.
As much as they've ruined the news business by throwing credibility aside to pursue political activism with examples like Rathergate, the stringer issue and even more so, the willful acts of treason by the NYT and WAPO will destroy what little trust Americans still have in the so-called fourth estate. They've become a fifth column and they won't be able to live it down.
Posted by: tfhr at April 28, 2006 08:34 AM