The Difficulties in Gaining Perspective on the War in Iraq

It is tough for most to formulate an opinion on the war in Iraq simply because of the difficulty in deciphering the truth from the jumbled mess that American media sources portray. An easy way to differentiate objective news reporting from biased media sources is by watching international news channels. For instance, BBC News portrays the Iraq war in a completely different way; instead of focusing on casualty numbers, domestic political activism, and opinion (all of these elements allow bias into news reporting), BBC shows just the events in Iraq as they happened. This allows the viewer to formulate his or her own opinion on the progress (or lack thereof) of the war.

Another reason why knowledge on the subject is scarce among Americans is that the media does not cover the war extensively at all. Media sources realize that interest in the Iraqi War is at an all time low "As news coverage of the war has diminished, so too has public interest in news about Iraq." According to this article, the Pew Research Center conducted a study and found that the public has lost focus on the Iraq War due to disinterest and long term "fatigue".

Here is my take on this whole issue of media coverage and public interest in the war. The public lost interest in the war due to the seemingly repetitive reports from news sources about the "kill count" and unpopularity of the war. If more objective accounts on the progress of the campaign are aired, more individuals will follow the war. It irks me to find apathetic individuals who do not follow the news because of public opinion and incorrect information. Your views and positions should be based on facts, not opinion. Although I am not a fan or hater, we cannot pull the "blame Bush" card whenever a national issue arises.