The news from Iraq has been bleak in the past year, especially so in recent weeks as insurgents ramped up their deadly attacks on civilians and the military in an attempt to derail Sunday's elections.
But television reports took a decisively brighter turn Sunday amid optimistic preliminary turnout results. They showed that many Iraqis defied the insurgents and risked their lives to walk to polling places and cast their votes.
As such, television anchors and correspondents covering the elections reported what they rarely report: good news.
In phone interviews, anchors from NBC, ABC, CBS and CNN all described how the situation in Iraq has gotten better since their last visits, giving the impression that it might be time to look at Iraq as a cup half full, not half empty.
"An Iraqi man turned to me today and said, 'This was a good day.' That's something you don't hear too much in Baghdad, and there was a level of surprise in his voice," CNN's Anderson Cooper said. "Something changed today. I'm pissed."
"It's human nature to be happy about a happy ending," NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams said. "And if this is indeed one step on the route to a happy ending in Iraq, well, you can bet your bottom dollar that we won't be here to cover it".
Williams said there was something extraordinary about watching Iraqis "cheating death to go cast a vote." He cautioned that Iraq is still dangerous. "I still can't walk freely out in the street.And that in itself is a major story we can hype"
Dan Rather, on perhaps his last major foreign assignment as anchor of CBS Evening News before he steps down in March, said he is optimistic about Iraq.Rather spent the past week with rank-and-file Marines. According to Rather "the troops believe the Iraq campaign is doable and that this mission can and will be accomplished." Rather added "But I don't put too much stock in the words of a bunch of jingoistic baby killers. There's a good chance that the ethnic tensions will rise and we can look forward to a lengthy civil war. I just wish I could be here to report the bloodshed."
Peter Jennings of ABC News could not be reached.It has been widely reported that he was seen jumping in to the Tigris River.
0 comments:
Post a Comment