Newspapers around the country are getting e-mails from readers asking why the papers haven’t displayed on Page One news reports about the release of British war documents claiming President Bush “fixed” intelligence reports to make a case for war in Iraq.
In a departure from the usual rap on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that we’re too liberal those in the anti-Bush camp want to know if the AJC has become a public relations firm for the president. These documents, they say, are proof the Bush administration concocted a reason to invade Iraq.
The story generated front-page headlines in the British press. Some American newspapers ran stories about the documents inside their main news section; eventually, a few (including the AJC) reported in more depth on the issue. There’s little question the revelation had an impact on Tony Blair, a Bush ally who was re-elected prime minister of Britain by a narrower margin than before.
“Newspapers overall underplayed this,” said Canton reader Teri DiCicco. “If your headline that day had been ‘British minutes reveal administration lied,’ people would see that and say, ‘This is considered important.’ ”
Deputy Managing Editor Susan Stevenson believes, as I do, that our coverage was appropriate. Americans learned about Bush’s faulty intelligence during U.S. elections. How you view this depends on your politics.
“Don Melvin and Shelly Emling, reporters in London for the AJC and Cox newspapers, reported in several stories about pre-British election memos and the larger issue the British disaffection with Tony Blair over Iraq,” said Stevenson.
DiCicco thinks we should run a timeline detailing Bush’s false statements, leading up to the war and continuing today. The British documents suggest the intelligence was purposefully flawed, a charge the Bush administration denies.
The coverage debate raises a larger question for regional newspapers like the AJC: How much news on international politics, particularly the war in Iraq, do readers want?
“Readers do not agree on the war in Iraq, nor do readers agree on our coverage of the war in Iraq,” said Stevenson.
Ultimately, the goal is to accurately report news from the war. Larry Kaplow, a Cox reporter in Baghdad, routinely reports about the dangerous reality of life in Iraq. Many of Kaplow’s stories including one this week about continued bombings and massacres have been on Page One.
Veteran military affairs reporter Ron Martz and photographer Brant Sanderlin were embedded with the first troops who stormed downtown Baghdad. Their reports gave AJC readers a close-up view that was often controversial.
“A lot of the comments [from readers] were very politically charged,” said Martz. “If I wrote something someone on the Republican side didn’t like, I was a traitor who should stay in Iraq. If I wrote something the Democrats didn’t like, then I was a stooge of the Bush administration. I figured since I was getting an equal amount from both sides, I was doing a fairly decent job of playing it down the middle.”
Martz and Sanderlin also reported the heroism and sacrifice of soldiers. Their most touching e-mails came from the soldiers’ families. “Without knowing it, we became their lifeline,” said Martz.
Last week, reporter Dave Hirschman and photographer Curtis Compton left for Iraq with the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Brigade. Those AJC staffers, along with Martz, Moni Basu and photographer Bita Honarvar, recently spent a week in specialized training for surviving a hostile environment. Basu and Honarvar will relieve Hirschman and Compton in July as the AJC follows the 48th for a year.
“We are a local newspaper and our primary focus is on metro Atlanta and readers,” said Stevenson. “That’s why we have committed a team of reporters and editors to be with the Georgia National Guard in Iraq and at home with their families. Their stories give us a very local way to tell a very international story.”
