gabosaurus
03-17-2008, 10:10 PM
I was sitting on an airplane today, listening to a radio program. A guy whose son died in Iraq was complaining about how the "mainstream media" refused to allow him to tell his story.
His son was a National Guardsman who was on a 12-month tour tour of duty. It was extended to 15 months, then extended again without notice. In his 17th month, he was killed while on patrol.
Media came to the father's home looking for the usual "fallen war hero" story. When the mass found out that he was bitter about both his son's deployment and the Pentagon's refusal to explain his extended tour of duty, they all left.
When dad pressed for an explanation, he was told "this is not the type of story we want to report" or "our advertisers would not approve of this type of story."
Basically, if there is no pride and heroism involved, the "mainstream media" doesn't want to tell your story.
Neither does the government. Dad was admonished for his attempts at "negative publicity" and told to keep his mouth shut.
His son was a National Guardsman who was on a 12-month tour tour of duty. It was extended to 15 months, then extended again without notice. In his 17th month, he was killed while on patrol.
Media came to the father's home looking for the usual "fallen war hero" story. When the mass found out that he was bitter about both his son's deployment and the Pentagon's refusal to explain his extended tour of duty, they all left.
When dad pressed for an explanation, he was told "this is not the type of story we want to report" or "our advertisers would not approve of this type of story."
Basically, if there is no pride and heroism involved, the "mainstream media" doesn't want to tell your story.
Neither does the government. Dad was admonished for his attempts at "negative publicity" and told to keep his mouth shut.