‘Journalists’ Explain Why Good News from Iraq Shouldn’t Get Reported

Not only is bad news - news, but bad new is good news. Good news (damn it) is bad news. Or, good news is no news. But most certainly, no news is not good news.

On a recent episode of Sunday's "Reliable Sources," CNN's Howard Kurtz pointed out that very few media outlets had an interest in citing the good news out of Iraq regarding September's sharp decline in casualties.

Kurtz had on the program as guests - Robin Wright (Washington Post) and Barbara Starr (CNN). Both of these "news" reporters had no problem with the drive by media burying the good news not coming out of Iraq.

Kurtz: "Robin Wright, should that decline in Iraq casualties have gotten more media attention?"

Wright: "Not necessarily. The fact is we're at the beginning of a trend -- and it's not even sure that it is a trend yet. There is also an enormous dispute over how to count the numbers. There are different kinds of deaths in Iraq.

There are combat deaths. There are sectarian deaths. And there are the deaths of criminal -- from criminal acts. There are also a lot of numbers that the U.S. frankly is not counting. For example, in southern Iraq, there is Shiite upon Shiite violence, which is not sectarian in the Shiite versus Sunni. And the U.S. also doesn't have much of a capability in the south.

So the numbers themselves are tricky." (Emphasis added - HH)

Soooo..... if the numbers are larger, it's easier to count the deaths and confirm their accuracy, buuuutt.... when the numbers are smaller, they are harder to count and confirm their accuracy ... because.... well, they're ..... tricky.

KURTZ: But let's say that the figures had shown that casualties were going up for U.S. soldiers and going up for Iraqi civilians. I think that would have made some front pages

STARR: Oh, I think inevitably it would have. I mean, that's certainly -- that, by any definition, is news."

And then more recently we have Charlie Gibson on ABC's World News Tonight saying:

"One item from Baghdad today. The news is... that there is no news. The police told us that, to their knowledge, there were no major acts of violence. Attacks are down in Baghdad and today no bombings or roadside explosions were reported."

Proving, finally, that no news is, when all is said and done, and by definition... no news.

No wonder one has to go to journalism school to become a journalist. This is all so confusing.