Arthur Chrenkoff has another collection of tidbits overlooked, downplayed or ignored by the mainstream media, this time on Afghanistan — and it needs to be placed within an interesting context.
I often tell people that the news media is soft of like an attention deficit child: it’s hard for it to focus too many issues at one time and not because of bad intentions but because of overworked staffers, limited resources and decisions on what stories need to get the most attention. Those decisions often entail the most dramatic stories of the day.
So Chrenkoff is right: good news falls through the cracks when it comes to Afghanistan. Especially when the focus of the news media has been on Iraq all these weeks. He notes that most western reporters are gone from Afghanistan and writes:
As the old saying goes, all dressed up and nowhere to go. Just when, after decades of bloodshed and despair, Afghanistan is finally getting back on its feet, the media have already moved on. But as citizens of countries whose servicemen and -women liberated Afghanistan from the Taliban yoke and continue to help rebuild of the country, we deserve to be told when all that blood, sweat and money is bringing good results.
So he gives you his usual mind-boggling collection of specifics. Then he concludes:
As the old riddle goes, if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? If a country like Afghanistan is getting back on its feet and there’s no one to report it, does it actually happen? As far as the people of Afghanistan are concerned, thankfully, yes; as far as the rest of the world, all too often the answer is no. That’s why it’s so important that the stories of Afghans–and those who are helping them–be told.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.