War in Real Time

War in Real Time
by Jennifer King, Managing Editor

April 14, 2003

"The Heretical Housewife"

Managing Editor Jennifer King This current war is like no one we have ever seen before, mostly due to the advent of satellite videophones and embedded reporters. Right now, in real time, we see operations as they are happening, or shortly thereafter. It is incredibly fascinating, and gives most of us an opportunity to vicariously experience war far away from the depredations of the front.

Once again, it is great to watch the “new media” at work, and to savor the tortured implosion of the old. During my weekend in NYC, I could only access the alphabet soup stations and CNN. After watching for awhile, I got depressed. Surely, we were well on our way to losing the war, being caught up in a Vietnam-like “quagmire”. Surely, our troops were traveling to their impending doom, our casualties were mounting and the situation was rapidly deteriorating.

Or not.

Thankfully, I was only away for the weekend. When I returned, I checked with computer news sites and cable TV. And found out, Whew! We weren’t losing after all - in fact - we were winning, and decisively so. Our troops had covered more ground, conquered more territory than in any other previous war, and with less than 100 casualties. Make no mistake, any casualty is a horrific loss and our prayers and heartfelt sympathies go out to these families. However, militarily speaking, 100 casualties is minimal, especially in a campaign of this size.

How, then, to explain this huge disparity between CNN and reality? Between all of the so-called “mainstream” media and reality?

One might put it down to wishful thinking.

In their zeal to remain adversarial to the Administration, the “mainstream media” has found itself more aligned with Al-Jazeera than with the truth. Petulantly, the media has pulled cute little tricks like refusing to call the mission by its name, “Operation Iraqi Freedom” instead renaming it skeptically - “Attack on Iraq”. Left leaning media pundits excitedly and instantly repeated unverified reports that supplies were short on the front lines, and that the troops had taken a “pause” in operations against Baghdad because they didn’t have enough troops to take the city.

As the tanks rolled through the capital, you could watch their faces drop - also in real time. Eleanor Clift looked ready to cry. One wonders how Katie Couric survived the ordeal..

Thus, the “old” media has proven itself as stale as a days old baguette bought in “Old Europe”. They are as outdated as a Remington typewriter. As their market share plummets, they flail about aimlessly, or end up pulling a Pelosi - i.e. figuring that the solution is to go to the Left of Che Guevara. Which makes them lose even more, baffling them even further. It’s immensely gratifying to watch.

The old media’s reaction to the new is similar to their response to all of the alternative media sources popping up. First, ignore it. Maybe it will go away. This is known as the “ostrich phase“. When that doesn’t work, especially when the new media is changing the dynamic, go to phase two - the “viciously vilify and smear campaign.” The Fox News Channel, having blasted the competition to smithereens, has arrived at this phase,

It can’t be restful for those employed at CNN, or MSNBC. Fox, with a 1.7 rating, has fully 800,000 more viewers than the second best, CNN with 1.1. MSNBC trails behind - no doubt due to expert marketing solutions like hiring leftwing anti-American retread Phil Donohue - with 0.4. Fox takes the top five slots for shows, too, with O’Reilly followed by Hannity and Colmes, Shepard Smith, Greta and Brit. Clearly, it is teeth gnashing time over at the networks. So here comes the “viciously vilify and smear squadron“. “They report, we deride” sneers one Steve Johnson in the Chicago Tribune. “It’s the graphics” posits a Brian Lowry in the L.A. Times.

How about a simpler solution? Fox is the one network which appears to actually be on our side, instead of Saddam’s. Fox actually calls our soldiers “our soldiers”. Fox is not afraid to show some patriotism. Their anchors have enough nerve to sport American flag pins. They regularly interview guys on the front lines without smirking or asking them how many Iraqi babies they‘ve killed. Fancy that. As contrasted with the Saddam worshipping Peter Arnett, or Bernard Shaw, who once contended that he wouldn’t tell American troops if there was a hostile unit over the horizon.

Now that America has a choice, it prefers - overwhelmingly - a network which doesn’t impugn Americans, or their values. America likes watching anchors who respect our military, who can use the word “God” without sneering. America is voting with its fingers, and the leftists are beside themselves. They no longer control the news cycle, they can’t spin inconvenient events without challenge, and they can’t cover up stories detrimental to politicians they favor. Due to cable and the internet, our world has changed forever. Like the war coverage, we now get news in real time. Thanks to Fox, we get both sides of the story. The truth has, truly, set us free. ***

Photo of Jennifer King courtesy of staff files