Do you think anyone in the White House will be watching?

[geekchick]

Via atrios:

From Nightline’s 4-27 daily email (tonight’s show is on the Cheney Supreme Court case):

Now I want to tell you about this Friday’s broadcast. We’re going to do something different, something that we think is important. Friday night, we will show you the pictures, and Ted will read the names, of the men and women from the armed forces who have been killed in combat in Iraq. That’s it. That will be the whole broadcast. Nightline has been reporting on the casualties under the heading of “Line of Duty.”

But we realized that we seemed to just be giving numbers. So many killed in this incident, so many more in that attack. Whether you agree with the war or not, these men and women are serving, are putting their lives on the line, in our names. We think it is important to remember that those who have paid the ultimate price all have faces, and names, and loved ones. We thought about doing this on Memorial Day, but that’s a time when most media outlets do stories about the military, and they are generally lost in the holiday crush of picnics and all. We didn’t want this broadcast to get lost. Honestly, I don’t know if people will watch this for thirty seconds, or ten minutes, or at all. That’s not the point. We think this is important. These men and women have earned nothing less.

One point, we are not going to include those killed in non-hostile incidents. There’s no disrespect meant here, we just don’t have enough time in this one broadcast. But they are no less deserving of our thoughts. I hope that you will join us for at least part of “The Fallen” on Friday.

Leroy Sievers and the Nightline Staff Nightline Offices ABCNEWS Washington D.C.

Comments

[tommx.livejournal.com]

i'm going to have to record that. no way i will be up that late with the jet lag i'm carrying.

[geekchick]

Welcome back, and congratulations on the hitchitude! ;)

[tommx.livejournal.com]

thanks. we should talk one of these days. i haven't conversed with you in a dog's age. of course, we both have been a bit busy, me with the hitching and you with the housing.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Unlikely that they'll watch, but thank you so much for posting this :)

Didn't know Atrios had a feed. Hmm..

How it's done matters a lot

[telnar.livejournal.com]

One problem I've traditionally had with this sort of program is that is isn't the politically neutral statement about the troops that the quote implies.

There is no way to divorce the fact that troops are dying from what they are dying for. My experience is that this sort of presentation of the fact of death with no links to its context is more likely to come from those who disapprove of its context. After all, in a vacuum, who would approve of US soldiers dying, but we don't live in a vacuum, and presenting the deaths alone seems designed to generate an emotional reaction against having the troops in Iraq. Those troops are in Iraq for a reason, and they are at times paying a terrible cost for it. Reasonable people can disagree about whether it's worth the cost, but to make that decision, they need to consider the benefits as well as the costs.

Re: How it's done matters a lot

[winterbadger]

These are good points, but I think the debate about what is being done and whther it's a good thing or not is going on already. I see this as another piece of information for those involved in that debate, and one that doesn't get presented enough.

It will be interesting to see whether they provide any backstory to the casualties (location, action, events) or just read a list of names and show photos. Another factor is what sort of photos are used. I assume official headshots or perhaps casual photos. Presumably not photos of their caskets or of the soldiers after death. THAT would be an incendiary political statement.

[crouchback.livejournal.com]

Ted Koppel himself noted that it would be more fitting to do the show on Memorial Day weekend.

Of course, Memorial Day weekend is after (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A48102-2004Apr27.html) May Sweeps are over.