Hey, did you know that, yesterday, in Baghdad, thousands of Iraqis marched in protest against terrorism? Seriously, thousands marched. In Baghdad. Against TERRORISM.
Call me crazy. Hell, call me nuts. But, you know, as a journalist, I kinda, sorta, maybe think that such an astounding event--people organizing and marching AGAINST TERRORISM--should, I don't know, constitute some kind of news.
Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that a group of about 1,200 people gathered and marched on Washington to demand legal rights for those detained at Guantanamo Bay. Would that make the news? Count on it. We're talking possibly front page type stuff there. And yet, when thousands of Iraqis get together, in an act that would very likely have gotten them thrown into prison or their tongues lopped off under Saddam's Ba'ath regime, you hear nary a word in the Western media.
Oh, wait, I guess, as Glenn Reynolds points out, the New York Times gave the march a passing nod:
In contrast, a heavily policed march in central Baghdad on Wednesday, organized peacefully by the country's major political parties, drew thousands of Iraqis to protest attacks by guerrilla fighters, which have injured and killed Iraqi civilians as well as occupiers.
Ah, but what's the news here? A heavily policed march, as if a large conglomeration of Iraqis should not warrant a little extra attention in a country where suspicion reigns supreme, even amongst themselves.
Am I whining? Sure, a bit. But, you know what? Even if you didn't support this war, even if you are hung up on the lack of weapons of mass destruction, you have to admit that such a gathering, in a country where such gatherings were only previously organized by Ba'athists to tout Saddam's 100 percent re-election, is really kind of remarkable.
Even more remarkable still, is that the news media powers that be have decided that it's a non-story. Not even worth a page 8E article, apparently.
But, hey, at least Beyonce won four billboard awards.
Posted by Ryan at December 11, 2003 08:53 AM
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