A Serious Question

[Annie]

I remember the summer of 2001 as "The Chandra Levy Summer" so the problems with the media have not just started since 9/11. One wonders though, what will it take to wake this country up?

http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/49108.htm

uly 1, 2005 -- POP quiz: Which issue matters more to America's future: the remarkable progress made in Afghanistan, or the disappearance of a teenager in Aruba?

Obviously, the latter. Over the past month, TV news has devoted more airtime to a missing girl than to Afghanistan and Iraq combined. It took the loss of a special operations helicopter and the 16 personnel aboard to get our Afghan success story back in the headlines — as bad news.

The relentless quest for sensation (and ratings) hurts us badly in Iraq, where a torrent of negative reporting creates an alternate reality in which terrorists dominate the country. The coverage of Afghanistan is even more lopsided.

Yes, Afghanistan has problems. It will have problems beyond our lifetimes. But the country is vastly more peaceful, humane and hopeful than ever before in its history...