After D-Day, journalist ernie Pyle wrote: “Now that it is over it seems to me a pure miracle that we ever took the beach at all. In this column I want to tell you what the opening of the second front in this one sector entailed, so that you can know and appreciate and forever be humbly grateful to those both dead and alive who did it for you.”

Can you imagine any journalists in modern times writing like Ernie Pyle? Or is it easier to imagine journalists following American troops in Afghanistan and Iraq eagerly reporting on what went wrong?

Ernie Pyle was one of America’s most famous and beloved war correspondents. Pyle set a new journalistic standard during World War II by moving among the soldiers on the front lines. Ernie Pyle was an “embed.” His reporting gave the American people a closeness to war that they had never experienced before. Pyle never glorified war, but he explained combat in terms of the sacrifices that American soldiers made on behalf of the people back home. Pyle wrote of the American warrior with a “heart-of-gold,” of the American soldier fi ghting the “good fight” against evil, and of the American soldier fighting for a “just and moral cause.” Ernie Pyle died on April 18, 1945, while reporting on the Battle of Okinawa in the Pacific.

Ernie Pyle’s style of reporting is alien to Americans living today, because Ernie Pyle made it clear which side he was on. In modern times, during the War on Terror, many Americans wonder where the loyalties of some journalists lie.

After the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001, journalists from the Reuters international news service refused to describe Osama bin Laden and his murderous disciples as “terrorists.” The journalists pointed to the official Reuters editorial policy, which stated: “As part of a long-standing policy to avoid the use of emotive words, we do not use terms like terrorist.”

In the United States, ABC News barred its journalists from wearing American flag lapel pins because it didn’t want to be seen taking sides in the War on Terror. An ABC News spokesman said: “We cannot signal how we feel about a cause, even a justified and just cause, through some sort of outward symbol.”

In February 2003, just before the American invasion and liberation of Iraq, CBS News aired an interview with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, the despicable mass murderer, torturer of women and children, and supporter of international terrorism. Many Americans scratched their heads during the televised interview, wondering what could possibly be learned about Saddam that wasn’t already known, and why they should believe anything that Saddam had to say. At the end of the interview, CBS News anchorman Dan Rather told Saddam: “I would very much like to see you in the future, Mr. President.”

On April 13, 2004, during a nationally televised presidential press conference, viewers across the country were astonished to hear members of the American press corps ask repeatedly whether or not President George W. Bush thought he should apologize for the tragedy of 9 / 11. The questions included: “Do you feel a sense of personal responsibility for September 11, 2001?” and “Do you believe the American people deserve an apology from you, and would you be prepared to give them one?” The president responded: “Here’s what I feel about that. The person responsible for the attacks was Osama bin Laden. That’s who’s responsible for killing Americans.”

I used to worry because newspaper readership is declining, lately I am thankful.

Michael Class
http://www.magicpictureframe.blogspot.com

michaelsclass on May 12, 2006 at 10:41 AM