Rumsfeld Asks Editors to Tell Whole Story of War

DefenseLINK News: Rumsfeld Asks Editors to Tell Whole Story of War



WASHINGTON, April 22, 2004 - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld appealed to American newspaper editors here today to tell the whole story about the global war on terrorism.



Rumsfeld spoke at a conference of U.S. newspaper editors, and told the group their publications are uniquely posed to help debate in America because they have the room for detail and nuance.



'To know the whole story about what's going on in Iraq today, America and other nations need to hear not just the truth that there are attacks and setbacks,...but also why these attacks are happening and why the terrorists and the regime remnants are lashing out,' Rumsfeld said. 'And this is where the print media can play a special role. You have the space to give context -- to inform the public about things that don't make the sound bite on evening news. Terrorists and bomb-throwers get headlines, to be sure. The good people of Iraq and Afghanistan do not.'



I like this line: "You have the space to give context" that's what good print should do. God knows TV news is making it easy for print to have the advantage there.



I want to be able to get whole story about everything all the time otherwise what's the point? How's that for a standard?!



With the web more and more people are their own news editors and lazy reporting is getting exposed all the time. NYT, USA Today etc...



more of the article here



update: read what they said he said or read what he said