Right and Left Headline Portrayal

Ok, I know that it may be a bit late in the semester to be blogging about simple internet site headline differences, but sometimes these types of things really get under my skin and I feel the need to at least mention them.

So a quick glance at the CNN and FOX News web pages is all that it takes to get me a little upset. First off, CNN appears to be matching pictures of President Obama and India's Prime Minister up with headlines regarding the strengthening of ties between world powers. Two of the World's largest democracies forming a stronger bond between its leaders appears to eb headline worthy material. And apparently so is the circumstance by which the two leaders came together.

Highlighting the State dinner at the White House, both CNN and FOX News give insight to the night's appeal, guest list, and other aspects. The angle taken by each media source remains interesting to me. It is still the same old battle between media powerhouses to bolster or strike the President, depending on the political slant. It just gets old to me. Maybe now I see it more clearly and that is what makes this whole thing seem silly, but the only picture on FOX News's web page that contained both President Obama and Prime Minister Singh was backed up by a caption that dealt with Obama's approval rating dropping. To the contrary, the whole beginning of this post regarding the strengthening of ties between world powers and what not, was inspired by the tone of CNN's captions and headlines that accompanied pictures of the two leaders. It is just frustrating to be fed the same slanted slop day in and day out.

Soldiers in Prison

All this week CNN is running a special on the story of three Army Sergeants who were convicted of premeditated murder of 4 Iraqi detainees. This story first surfaced as the Killings at the Canal. Briefly, there were four detained Iraqi men who were believed to be a constant threat to soldiers. With the rules that govern the intake and release of these individuals it is not uncommon to keep fighting the same enemy over and over due to the fact that if there is not enough evidence to hold detainees then they are released. These sergeants apparently saw this flaw as detrimental and took matters into their own hands. They killed the four men and swore, along with 10 other soldiers who knew of the incedent, not to speak of it again. This story obviously did get out and the men in charge are currently serving prison sentences of multiple decades each.

My first reaction to this is that theses unfortunate soldiers have been used as an example. I feel that this may be something that we hear about in a few years, only as a happy story of soldiers being released from prison. I am not sure how closely the military imprisonment of an individual parallels that of a civilian, and maybe I am simply jaded by years of innundation by movies and TV shows on law, court, trials, etc., but I feel that these men stand little chance of serving their entire sentences. I feel that the media in this case acts as both a harm and a good for these men.

The media hopped all over this story and soon after the American public knew of the actions of these three soldiers, they were being sentenced. I think that the ability for information to simply explode onto the American public at the rate that it does, in a sense, prevents these types of secrets to be held. Sensationalist reporting and ratings chasing leads to the unearthing of some things that may be best left untold. I am by no means condoning the actions of the three sergeants, but who is to say that what they did did not make them and their men safer? Do these men deserve to be serving these sentences?

No. And that is where the media can play a positive role. This story includes families, wives, kids, fathers (on both sides of the lines) and there is sensational appeal in alomst ever layer. The very same media characteristics that have acted as a detriment to these men thus far can also help their cause in the future. As soon as this story is forgotten, a few weeks of breaking news later, the majority of Americans will have thier minds on something else. It appears as though the American government is doing what it needs to to in order to 'play fair' among warring nations, and the unfortunate soldiers stand as scapegoats. A few years from now though, don't be surprised to hear of the commuted sentences of these three American soldiers.

Flying free of Fox

Two weeks ago I found myself on an airplane headed to the west coast. I was taking a little time away from it all and attening a music festival in southern California and on my plane ride out to Las Vegas (which included a subsequent van ride through the, as Hunter S. Thompson so elloquently put it, Back Country between there and the neighboring Golden State) and as I sunk deep into my seat for the 4 and a half hour period I wondered how I would keep myself entertained. With my girlfried at my side and beautiful blue sky out the window (yes, I was not only smart enough to book a window seat, but also kind enough to assign my girlfriend to it) I wasn't necessarily worried about the entertainment aspect, but my mind still wondered. Finally after about an hour in the air and some school reading behind me I decided to stop a flight attendant and get one of those pair of really comfortable headphones of the $2 variety and tune into the back headrest of the seat in front of me.

There was a pretty impressive array of cable channels availible for free viewing and as I scanned the options I was pretty sure that I did not see the Fox news network. So I made another pass through the  channels and, sure enough, NO Fox News. Not to give too much away, but I was overjoyed at the thought of operating the up and down button and not having to even glimpse at the content of that awesome channel.

I was wondering how Delta escaped this....