Hi Sargent,

Quote Originally Posted by Sargent View Post
There is a video on the web of the ceremony. It's gut-wrenching, but it's also the human side of the war. Why shouldn't the American public see this? Most people aren't serving, the least they can do is be forced to confront some of the real costs involved. Such coverage doesn't have to be a critique of the policy, but it's part of the reality. But there's a fear that such coverage will be assumed to be "negative" that it's being left out of the public story of this war.
I must admit that I have found he US press' reluctance to show material like this to be puzzling. Cori had mentioned elsewhere that the Canadian press was more likely to show images like this, and that is definitely true. Press coverage of fallen Canadian soldiers starts with the report of their death, reactions of their comrades in the AO and at their home base, follows them back to Canada, covers their funerals, etc.

I fully realize that part of the difference is based on the shear number of casualties, but I think a lot of it has to do with two other factors: a) the open debate on the war here (multi-party vs. two-party) and b) the resurgent control of PR by the Canadian Forces. All through this, we see a fairly consistent "message", and the reactions from the population seems to mirror it.

I'm mentioning the Canadian example because I think it can be instructive for the US military in how to produce a "message" that is a) true and b) matches the current needs.

Marc