I thought it would be beneficial to let everyone know about a two part television special called “Bush’s War” airing on PBS next week.

I’m happy to hear it’s being produced and broadcasted by PBS. They adhere to the highest standards of journalistic integrity, guidelines, and practices. This translates to a program that you can feel confident knowing the information presented is truthful.

Check out their guideline on journalistic standards and practices here.

The show will air Monday, March 24, 2008, from 9 to 11:30 P.M. and Tuesday, March 25, from 9 to 11 P.M. ET on PBS.

Combined with fresh reporting and new interviews, Bush’s War will be the definitive documentary analysis of one of the most challenging periods in the nation’s history.

“Parts of this history have been told before,” Kirk says. “But no one has laid out the entire narrative to reveal in one epic story the scope and detail of how this war began and how it has been fought, both on the ground and deep inside the government.”

Be prepared for many more shows and movies focusing on the last eight years of the Bush reign. By the end of the year, Olivier Stone will be producing a full length feature movie about how President Bush came to power.

I’ll be tuned in Monday and Tuesday night to see if PBS will truely stick to the facts as we know them to be today. Or, if we’ll find the episodes fueled by the national rage over the Iraq & Afghanistan wars.

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I think everyone’s noticed the dramatic decline in news items focusing on the war in Iraq. I’d place my finger around the time Gen. Patreaus gave his testimony on the surge back in September. There was an orgy of information flying at us right before and after he took the stand.

But then we heard nothing. Or at least close to nothing.

Some would say it’s because the surge started to work. And it has. To a point. Either the surge has worked or “the enemy” has found it’s interest in another land. No matter what the reason is behind the drop in violence, Americans are still dying in the desert.

Back on the home front, it’s business as usual.

I challenge you to take a gander at the percentage of cable news spots focusing on the war in Iraq this year.

One Percent.

Last year 24% of news items covered by cable networks were about the Iraq war. Twenty-Four to One percent? Holy mother of denial.

It isn’t just your imagination. There really has been a massive drop in news coverage about the war in Iraq. I can’t really blame the media. The media is trying to give the public stories that they’re interested in hearing. Without an audience, news doesn’t have much of a purpose.

ABC News President Davis Westin agrees that new of the Iraq war shouldn’t wither away.

“It’s our job to find ways of presenting that story in the most memorable and compelling ways to our audience because they need to know what’s going on there.”

You see what he said there? It’s important to find the most “memorable and compelling ways” to present news to the public. Everyone’s in the business of entertainment.

Apparently, the war in Iraq isn’t entertaining to the public anymore. Perhaps it’s akin to watching reruns of M*A*S*H but with less of Hotlips and more of Frank Burns.

Source: Excellence in Journalism’s survey of news coverage.

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Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are still in the thick of it. As another set of primaries is about to occur on Tuesday, the celebs are coming out of the woodwork to let you know who they choose. Here’s a couple of the videos they’ve produced, one for each candidate, cuz you know… I’d hate to seem biased.

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Ok, I know this may not really count as news, but I was watching tv around 3 in the morning and caught some music videos (3 am being the only time you can see music videos these days) and I caught 2 new videos that have something in common- police types in riot gear.

It’s nothing new in music to portray a struggle against an often faceless authority, but I had to wonder why within maybe a couple months of each other the Foo Fighters and Linkin Park both release videos featuring such a striking visual.

Perhaps even outside of music that is overtly critical of the administrations in power, there is still a feeling of oppression and fear in the creative community that is finding it’s way to express itself?

Well, I leave the hypothesizing to you dear reader- in the mean time- enjoy the videos.

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I was kicking around a 7-11 the other night and saw this month’s issue of Rolling Stone magazine…

…and I couldn’t help but be caught by the words and images that bombarded me from the glossy paper. “Inside an American Tragedy”, and suddenly I found myself reading the magazine from cover to cover… and then writing a letter to the editors. What follows is that letter- which they’ll likely never publish…

I just picked up the latest issue of RS (Feb 2008) and looking at the cover really told me everything I need to know about the current state of the United States. The full cover page splashed with nothing but a close up of Britney Spears with the associated article title- “Inside An American Tragedy”. I think we’ve lost sight of what the word “tragedy” really means.

I realize RS is primarily a pop-culture magazine, but with the “real” news outlets paying the same amount of lip service to these spoiled screwed up pop tarts who’s biggest concerns are how to get to the next party with the most publicity possible, the real “American Tragedy” is how topics like how this white-trash darling collapsing under the weight of her own delusions of importance are viewed as more relevant to daily life than one of the more important articles you run in the same issue, about how the Democrats are betraying the anti-war movement.As an OIF vet and social/political commentator myself (www.patriotmissive.com) I returned home from the never ending war to find a country that cares less and less about the things that are slowly ruining our country such as the failing economy, our ever growing debt, Presidential Candidates who have to grow more and more corrupt and accept more and more aid from disreputable sources just to have the financial ability to keep up with each other in the race- all the while they tear each other down for the same tactics they use, resulting in even weaker political parties (looking at you Democrats) and growing distrust in the political system and apathy on the part of the citizens of our country… not to mention the continuing damage the war does to families, businesses, and the soldiers themselves who regardless of what their jobs may have been, will still continue to come home from each deployment a little more changed, a little more damaged than they were before.

Maybe it was a slow steady decline that has been occuring for a long time, and it just took years away from home to really see it for what it was, but the news media’s growing thirst for ratings paired with the lack of the general population’s interest in real meaningful events has turned us into one of the most ridiculously ill-informed, lack-luster societies in the western world and beyond.

I beg you Rolling Stone, if Britney Spears or one of her ilk release a new album, review it by all means… but when it comes to major feature pieces, these sad sacks are getting enough press from other news outlets… you’ve never been afraid of writing passionate articles about important issues and pulling no punches- if no one else will make it a focus, maybe you can?

If for nothing else, thank you for the important articles you do write, even if they get skipped over by many for the big gossip story of the day- there are those of us who crave strong reporting, and stories of relevance. And thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

~~Skitz M. Jones

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