The Laughing Wolf

Foley, And A Respectful Disagreement With Blackfive

As I mentioned earlier, there is yet again another major media player who is slandering the troops by claiming that journalists are being deliberately targeted and killed. Unlike Eason Jordan and CNN, there is a video of the event. An effort is already underway to spin/bury this, and it must not be allowed to stand. Linda Foley must be held to account for her remarks: for if they are correct it is the story of the decade, and if not she needs to be held accountable for the slander she has made. To that end, proof must be demanded. In short, she needs to put up, or shut up.

In this post, Blackfive makes a very good point, but I am afraid that I must respectfully disagree with him. The Old Media is anti-military. I don't think it the conscious conspiracy of the few, but rather an unconscious conspiracy of the many. Having worked in and around the field, I have seen a mindset with many that soldiers can't be that bright, simply because if they were then they would not choose to be soldiers. Therefore, they must be ignorant, poor, and unable to get "real" jobs as the stereotypes (oft proclaimed by said media) go.

Most members of the media have no exposure to the military, nor are they interested in understanding it. I've talked on this before, and why I think the embeds were a great stroke on many levels, and I urge you read this post, this post, this post, and this series which starts here.

There is more in the archives, but these go to the heart of why I say the Old Media is anti-military: it is very biased and bigoted against those who serve because of a long and undeclared war against the military establishment, and a bigoted and unquestioned stereotype of those who serve. It is the biogotry of willful and deliberate ignorance.

Let's shine the spotlight not just on Foley and her despicable remarks, but also on two other things. First, the pervasive anti-troop and anti-military establishment bias within the Old Media that comes from not having knowledge of the subject. Second, let us take the time to renew the calls for releasing the Jordan tape, so that this rapacious meme can be countered both within the hallowed halls of journalism and with the world at large.

LW