Friday, April 30, 2004
Media Narcissism and the Naming of Names
An officer now serving in Iraq weighs in on the flap over Ted Koppel's decision to devote much of a Nightline broadcast to reading the names of American dead in Iraq:
Koppel was on Al Franken's show on Air America (Libby/lefty talk radio) THIS MORNING condemning the administration's efforts in Iraq. You tell me if there are other personal and political motives involved.....
If McCain were truly interested in a fully informed American public as he indicates in his statement, then he'd be pounding on Koppel's door to get him to show the good things those soldiers were doing in Iraq when they died.
My own unpolled sense is that most soldiers would be pretty uncomfortable with--if not downright offended--by Ted Koppel's decision to decontextualize their sacrifices by simply reading off the names one by one on the air.
I could say it's another example of how network media is out of touch with the sensibilities of military families, but that would oversimplify things. It's entirely possible that had ABC News realized exactly how this plays with the Joes and their families, they would take the same decision utterly
It would certainly make for pretty boring television.
It doesn't matter if the motivation is to undermine popular support for the war by listing the names in numbing monotony, or if it's somehow a clumsy catharsis on the part of ABC News staffers. In either case, the drive is to serve the interests of the staffers of ABC News. Not the soldiers and Marines themselves, and not the viewing public.
It's media narcissism.
I think there are instances where it is appropriate to list our honored dead by name. It's certainly not an unprecedented practice.
But in this case, it's an obnoxious one.
Splash, out
Jason
Koppel was on Al Franken's show on Air America (Libby/lefty talk radio) THIS MORNING condemning the administration's efforts in Iraq. You tell me if there are other personal and political motives involved.....
If McCain were truly interested in a fully informed American public as he indicates in his statement, then he'd be pounding on Koppel's door to get him to show the good things those soldiers were doing in Iraq when they died.
My own unpolled sense is that most soldiers would be pretty uncomfortable with--if not downright offended--by Ted Koppel's decision to decontextualize their sacrifices by simply reading off the names one by one on the air.
I could say it's another example of how network media is out of touch with the sensibilities of military families, but that would oversimplify things. It's entirely possible that had ABC News realized exactly how this plays with the Joes and their families, they would take the same decision utterly
It would certainly make for pretty boring television.
It doesn't matter if the motivation is to undermine popular support for the war by listing the names in numbing monotony, or if it's somehow a clumsy catharsis on the part of ABC News staffers. In either case, the drive is to serve the interests of the staffers of ABC News. Not the soldiers and Marines themselves, and not the viewing public.
It's media narcissism.
I think there are instances where it is appropriate to list our honored dead by name. It's certainly not an unprecedented practice.
But in this case, it's an obnoxious one.
Splash, out
Jason
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