[Peace-discuss] A curious omission by
the News-Gazette
Rachel Storm
rstorm2 at illinois.edu
Tue Dec 9 13:28:14 CST 2008
I knew I shouldn't have mentioned that excerpt for the film, since what would be a discussion of how to reclaim the media for the public will now turn into a debate over the value of "propagandists" like Michael Moore and his work.
---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 13:12:33 -0600
>From: "LAURIE SOLOMON" <LAURIE at advancenet.net>
>Subject: RE: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
>To: "'Rachel Storm'" <rstorm2 at illinois.edu>, "'Marti Wilkinson'" <martiwilki at gmail.com>, "'Randall Cotton'" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>Cc: <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>
>I find it interesting that in his movie, The Slacker Uprising, Michael Moore
>also told those who did not vote in the election prior to the 2006
>by-election because they had given up on the system to give the system one
>more try before deciding to give up on it. Not that it has anything to do
>with this discussion, but it was interesting in that, after telling them
>that and getting them to vote, the Democrats got control of both chambers of
>Congress and then proceeded to renege on their promises with respect to
>fighting the Bush policies and reversing many of the actions that were taken
>by the Bush Administration. It appears as if Obama is doing the same sort
>of thing when it comes to meeting the expectations of his base. This leaves
>me to wonder what Michael Moore will be telling the Slackers the next
>election now that they have not only given the system one more try but have
>given it two more tries and got the same result. I wonder if he will say it
>is ok for them to give up on the system now that they have given it those
>extra chances. I think he will probably forget he ever said that or find
>some way to justify not honoring it.
>
>I make this statement because I think that people put too much faith in
>those who are good propagandists - be they from the right or the left - and
>are selling a point of view or cause. Just goes to show that the saying "we
>won't be fooled again" has been replaced by "there is a sucker born every
>minute, and you just happened to be born at the right moment." I have to
>also wonder why Moore remains so invested in supporting the system even
>after it failed to work after the 2006 elections and if it fails to work
>again after the 2008 elections? How will he convince future slackers to vote
>in future elections given the outcomes of the past ones. You can only say
>give it one more try once or twice before the appeal looses meaning.
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
>[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Rachel Storm
>Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:21 PM
>To: Rachel Storm; Marti Wilkinson; Randall Cotton
>Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
>
>Oh sheesh, "we're" should be "weren't"
>
>That changes something...
>
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 12:13:26 -0600 (CST)
>>From: Rachel Storm <rstorm2 at illinois.edu>
>>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
>>To: Marti Wilkinson <martiwilki at gmail.com>, Randall Cotton
><recotton at earthlink.net>
>>Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>
>>Initially, felt similarly (to Randall) about your response, Marti. Though
>after reading your comment again, I knew you we're necessarily trying to
>defend (perhaps somewhat excuse...) the NG editing. I think some of us are
>so jaded by the media that we come to expect less and less, which is I think
>where you're coming from Marti. And I agree with it. Nonetheless, I think
>the only way we can demand better from the media is to find in ourselves the
>energy to point out (however relentlessly) the many ways in which the media
>twists and sanitizes a story for the public. Michael Moore made a wonderful
>statement in Slacker Uprising when the media asked whether his movies were
>propaganda. He replied, telling them that if the media did their job that he
>wouldn't have to make movies for the purposes of informing the public. You
>can watch the part I'm talking about here on youtube.com:
>>
>>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiO5ikOU7DU&feature=related
>>
>>Just scroll to 4:50.
>>
>>I think we need to be more critical and in a sense, more pissed off at bad
>journalism.
>>
>>Rachel
>>
>>---- Original message ----
>>>Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 23:48:24 -0600
>>>From: "Marti Wilkinson" <martiwilki at gmail.com>
>>>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
>>>To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>>>Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>>
>>> It didn't occur to me that I was being quick to
>>> 'defend' the News-Gazette. My comment was to the
>>> effect that what you observed may be a reflection of
>>> a standard practice in newspapers. As for your
>>> decision to 'challenge' me - I have to ask why are
>>> you so quick to judge my response?
>>>
>>> On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 11:00 PM, Randall Cotton
>>> <recotton at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> Well I think it's clear that you tend to give the
>>> NG the benefit of the
>>> doubt, much moreso than I. Did you see the
>>> original article? Did you
>>> compare the two? Why are you so quick to defend
>>> the NG?
>>>
>>> If you were to study the two articles side by
>>> side, you would see that
>>> there several edits. A sentence here, a sentence
>>> there, with at least one
>>> other instance of removing material unflattering
>>> to the military. It
>>> wasn't just a matter of lopping off the last few
>>> lines. Yet so little
>>> space was saved. The large front-page photo could
>>> have been something like
>>> 73 or 74 square inches instead of 76 and the
>>> entire article could have
>>> been preserved. There was another smaller photo as
>>> well. Making each of
>>> them imperceptibly smaller would leave enough
>>> space for the whole article.
>>> I remain convinced that whoever edited that
>>> article was biased in favor of
>>> the military. Is it hard to accept that the NG
>>> might be biased in favor of
>>> the military? Would you find it hard to believe
>>> that there have been other
>>> instances of bias in favor of the military in the
>>> NG? Or that publisher
>>> and editors might be biased in favor of the
>>> military?
>>>
>>> I challenge you to do the actual comparison and
>>> come away from that with
>>> your opinion unchanged.
>>> R
>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>> From: "Marti Wilkinson" <martiwilki at gmail.com>
>>> To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>>> Cc: <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>>> Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 10:18 PM
>>> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by
>>> the News-Gazette
>>>
>>> : In Journalism reporters are trained to start off
>>> a story with the
>>> : information that is considered to be the most
>>> newsworthy. As an article
>>> : progresses the information becomes less of a
>>> priority. So in the event
>>> that
>>> : a copy editor cut's off a paragraph or two from
>>> the bottom the people
>>> who
>>> : read the article will still get the bulk of the
>>> story. While the N-G
>>> may
>>> : have had room to 'fit' in the missing paragraphs
>>> it may well be an
>>> editorial
>>> : standard to use large photos in order to get a
>>> visual appeal to readers.
>>> The
>>> : further away an article is from the front page
>>> the less likely it will
>>> be
>>> : read and this is something that publishers take
>>> into consideration.
>>> :
>>> : In this instance, I see this as being part of a
>>> fairly common and
>>> mundane
>>> : editorial practice....and the News-Gazette is
>>> not unique in that
>>> respect.
>>> :
>>> : Marti
>>> :
>>> : On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 9:30 PM, Randall Cotton
>>> <recotton at earthlink.net>wrote:
>>> :
>>> : > Mention was made at last Sunday's AWARE
>>> meeting about the quite
>>> prominent
>>> : > story on the front page of the Commentary
>>> section of the Sunday
>>> : > News-Gazette.
>>> : >
>>> : > It was a McClatchy Newspapers article about
>>> the rising suicide rates
>>> in
>>> : > the military. The article was somewhat
>>> unexpected in my opinion and
>>> : > laudable on the surface. It featured the story
>>> of Sgt. Joshua Barber's
>>> : > suicide as related largely by his wife Kelly
>>> (who is featured in large
>>> : > compelling photos). However, it turns out the
>>> article as printed was
>>> an
>>> : > edited version of what was originally a
>>> somewhat larger article. In
>>> : > particular, a very significant part of the
>>> story was omitted in the
>>> : > snipped News-Gazette version. The following is
>>> the end of the full
>>> : > article, describing the end of Sgt. Barber's
>>> life, when he arrived at
>>> : > Madigan Army Medical Center (referred to as
>>> "Madigan" below). All of
>>> this
>>> : > was completely lopped off in the News Gazette
>>> version:
>>> : >
>>> : > *****************************
>>> : > Surveillance video shows that Barber arrived
>>> at Madigan about 7 a.m.
>>> the
>>> : > next day and didn't get out of the pickup,
>>> according to the police
>>> report.
>>> : > A Madigan employee found his body two days
>>> later and called 9-1-1.
>>> Kelly
>>> : > Barber, who was working at the time of the
>>> discovery, was notified
>>> later
>>> : > that morning.
>>> : >
>>> : > According to the medical examiner's report,
>>> Barber had put a revolver
>>> : > loaded with hollow-point rounds to the right
>>> side of his head and
>>> pulled
>>> : > the trigger.
>>> : >
>>> : > He was dressed in his old combat uniform.
>>> : >
>>> : > "He was making a statement to the military,"
>>> Kelly Barber said.
>>> : > *****************************
>>> : >
>>> : > It's not like the NG didn't have room to fit
>>> this in. The front page
>>> photo
>>> : > was exceptionally large (over 70 square
>>> inches). Did the News-Gazette
>>> omit
>>> : > Sgt. Barber's last desperate statement under
>>> the rug because it
>>> reflects
>>> : > poorly on the military? So it would appear. A
>>> google search turned up
>>> the
>>> : > article in 8 different places. None was
>>> missing the above excerpt.
>>> Sgt.
>>> : > Barber's statement is arguably the most
>>> compelling part of the story,
>>> but
>>> : > apparently it was left out deliberately by the
>>> News-Gazette for no
>>> other
>>> : > discernible reason.
>>> : >
>>> : > Following is the full article, taken from:
>>> : >
>>> : >
>>> http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=92728145
>>> : >
>>> : > Please read it. It's not long.
>>> : >
>>> : > **********
>>> : >
>>> : > "Do you think that God's going to send me to
>>> hell for killing innocent
>>> : > people?" former Sgt. Joshua Barber asked his
>>> wife one day last summer.
>>> : >
>>> : > Kelly Barber tried to reassure her distraught
>>> husband. Nearly three
>>> years
>>> : > after a combat tour in Iraq, he was a shell of
>>> the loving and
>>> fun-loving
>>> : > man she'd married nine years earlier.
>>> : >
>>> : > Joshua Barber was quiet, withdrawn, constantly
>>> fighting demons he
>>> couldn't
>>> : > exorcise. His question reinforced her fear
>>> that he was sliding further
>>> : > into a well of guilt and despair as she tried
>>> desperately to hold on.
>>> : >
>>> : > The couple had sought help from the Army and
>>> U.S. Department of
>>> Veterans
>>> : > Affairs, but Kelly Barber said they got caught
>>> up in red tape.
>>> : >
>>> : > "He just had to fight so many battles, and no
>>> one would help him," she
>>> : > said.
>>> : >
>>> : > The 31-year-old soldier killed himself three
>>> weeks after asking that
>>> : > terrible question.
>>> : >
>>> : > On Aug. 25, a day after his wife reported him
>>> missing from their home
>>> in
>>> : > Lacey, Joshua Barber drove onto Fort Lewis in
>>> his silver 2005 Ford
>>> F150
>>> : > pickup, a gift from his wife when he returned
>>> from Iraq.
>>> : >
>>> : > He parked in the lot at Madigan Army Medical
>>> Center and shot himself
>>> in
>>> : > the head with a revolver, one of several guns
>>> he'd taken from home.
>>> : >
>>> : > Barber's death is hardly an isolated case. In
>>> a nearly three-year
>>> period,
>>> : > more than half of the veterans of the wars in
>>> Iraq and Afghanistan who
>>> : > committed suicide did so at least a year after
>>> their deployments
>>> ended,
>>> : > Army data show. A large number of soldiers who
>>> hadn't deployed also
>>> took
>>> : > their own lives. The number of suicides
>>> involving veterans ages 18 to
>>> 29
>>> : > receiving care from the VA nearly doubled from
>>> 36 in 2005 to 68 in
>>> 2006,
>>> : > the most recent figures available, according
>>> to the VA.
>>> : >
>>> : > The Army and the VA have redoubled their
>>> efforts to prevent suicides.
>>> Both
>>> : > have expanded services and launched
>>> initiatives aimed at suicide
>>> : > prevention.
>>> : >
>>> : > The Army is hiring dozens of counselors and
>>> has developed an
>>> interactive
>>> : > video so soldiers can identify warning signs
>>> and help a distraught
>>> : > colleague through various scenarios. The Army
>>> and the National
>>> Institute
>>> : > of Mental Health recently announced a
>>> five-year, $50 million research
>>> : > program into the factors behind soldier
>>> suicides.
>>> : >
>>> : > The VA, meanwhile, is taking steps to improve
>>> its screening among
>>> veterans
>>> : > diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic
>>> stress disorder, and
>>> increase
>>> : > training so chaplains can look for warning
>>> signs. In July 2007, it
>>> : > launched a national suicide hot line, which
>>> receives thousands of
>>> calls
>>> : > each month, said Fred Blow, director of the
>>> VA's Serious Mental
>>> Illness
>>> : > Treatment Research and Evaluation Center.
>>> : >
>>> : > "The Army is doing everything possible, but
>>> you still have those who
>>> : > choose to take their own lives," said Maj.
>>> Nathan Banks, an Army
>>> : > spokesman.
>>> : >
>>> : > A cook -- and a gunner
>>> : >
>>> : > For Joshua Barber, the serious problems began
>>> a year after his return
>>> from
>>> : > Iraq.
>>> : >
>>> : > He had deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat
>>> Team, 25th Infantry
>>> Division
>>> : > from September 2004 to October 2005. The
>>> Stryker brigade has since
>>> : > transferred to Germany.
>>> : >
>>> : > Barber was a cook but found himself a gunner
>>> on missions in Iraq.
>>> : >
>>> : > His VA physician wrote in an assessment after
>>> his death that "it is
>>> : > reasonable and valid to attribute his suicide
>>> to post-traumatic stress
>>> : > disorder, particularly in light of the fact
>>> that he joined during
>>> peace
>>> : > time, not knowing he would be called on to
>>> serve in war. ...
>>> : >
>>> : > "At the point of enlistment, he probably never
>>> suspected that he would
>>> be
>>> : > called on to serve in a combat role," she
>>> wrote in the assessment, a
>>> copy
>>> : > of which was provided to The Olympian by Kelly
>>> Barber.
>>> : >
>>> : > Barber joined the service before the Sept. 11,
>>> 2001, attacks.
>>> : >
>>> : > On Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomber detonated
>>> explosives inside a mess
>>> tent
>>> : > near the Mosul airport, killing 22 people.
>>> Among the dead were 14 U.S.
>>> : > service members, including six Fort Lewis
>>> soldiers.
>>> : >
>>> : > For days, Barber and other soldiers had to
>>> keep the area secure and
>>> escort
>>> : > federal agents around the crime scene. After
>>> his return home, he had
>>> : > nightmares about the mutilated bodies lying
>>> everywhere, his wife said.
>>> : >
>>> : > "He would say that all he could remember was
>>> the smell of death," she
>>> : > said. "That bothered him quite a bit."
>>> : >
>>> : > When a sniper's bullet killed his first
>>> sergeant, Barber blamed
>>> himself.
>>> : > He was convinced the noncommissioned officer
>>> would still be alive if
>>> : > Barber had gone on that mission, his wife
>>> wrote in materials submitted
>>> to
>>> : > the government.
>>> : >
>>> : > Barber noted in his post-deployment health
>>> screening that he felt at
>>> least
>>> : > one time during his deployment that he was in
>>> "great danger" of being
>>> : > killed. He also acknowledged that he had an
>>> experience so frightening
>>> and
>>> : > upsetting near the end of his tour that he
>>> felt numb or detached.
>>> : >
>>> : > However, the screening official concluded that
>>> Barber had "no medical
>>> : > issues" and didn't refer him for treatment,
>>> including for combat and
>>> : > operational stress, according to the
>>> screening, a copy of which was
>>> : > provided by Kelly Barber.
>>> : >
>>> : > Her husband eventually sought private care.
>>> : >
>>> : > During his leave, the couple attended a
>>> concert by Weezer, an
>>> alternative
>>> : > rock band. Barber, who his wife said was
>>> usually "the first one in the
>>> : > mosh pit," couldn't handle having so many
>>> people around him.
>>> : >
>>> : > She later recalled a camping trip where she
>>> remarked about the beauty
>>> of
>>> : > the surrounding mountains. Her husband said he
>>> liked the scenery,
>>> too --
>>> : > because there would be "good hiding places so
>>> no one would get me,"
>>> she
>>> : > remembers him saying.
>>> : >
>>> : > Medically unfit
>>> : >
>>> : > Barber's status with the military added to his
>>> stress. He transferred
>>> to
>>> : > an Army Reserve unit based in Tacoma to serve
>>> out his military
>>> contract.
>>> : >
>>> : > He was required to undergo a retention
>>> physical. It wasn't until
>>> August
>>> : > 2007, nearly a year after he underwent the
>>> physical, that he was found
>>> : > medically unfit to continue serving. The
>>> military deemed the reasons
>>> to be
>>> : > nonduty-related.
>>> : >
>>> : > He was given an honorable discharge in
>>> January. He was hired as a cook
>>> at
>>> : > Madigan, where his wife also worked. (Kelly
>>> Barber no longer works
>>> there.
>>> : > The 40-year-old just moved to Florida, where
>>> her family lives.)
>>> : >
>>> : > By spring, and after some initial delays,
---- Message was truncated ----
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