Missing From the War

The New York Times looks at many reasons for the reduction of media coverage of the war in Iraq but overlooks a key one: corporate decisions to cut foreign staff in favor of hyper-local coverage and to depend almost entirely on "the wires" for non-local news. Of course, at the Times, that cutback and refocusing may not be so apparent. Also, the Times misspells Mathew Brady's name but other than that, it's a pretty good piece.

Not to See the Fallen Is No Favor
By DAVID CARR
On this Memorial Day, thousands of United States men and women are engaged in untold acts of bravery and drudgery on behalf of what our leaders have defined as vital American interests in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But even as the flags wave to honor soldiers past, much of the current campaigns go on without notice, because while troop numbers are surging, the media that cover them are leaking away, worn out by the danger and expense of covering a war that refuses to end.