Opus 2013-17: Headlines: Good Journalism

Two events have made it possible for me to actually read a newspaper.  First, my wife is out of town so I actually see the paper.  Second, I have been home sick with a throat problem that does not keep my mind from working, assuming it worked to start with, of course.  The only newspaper that I am currently willing to consider seriously is the Washington Times.  Since we are on the west coast the only thing available is the national weekly edition.

They have their share of weak shallow writers.  Their stories often don’t have the same point of view as the titles.  Currently they are getting into cute word plays in the titles such as “Dead Souls Are Lethal.”  But I came across some real journalism. 

I read an article on Chuck Hagel that was more than just accusations.  It was titled “Hagel’s foreign policy record is strike against him,”  by Rowan Scarborough. (Washington Times National Weekly, January 7, 2013, page 3)  It had a year by year, blow by blow revelation of Hagel’s decisions and how he has changed his position over the years.

Scarborough shares the words of Senator Hagel who in 2007 followed up President Bush announcing the surge with this statement, “I think this speech given last night by this president represents the most dangerous foreign policy blunder in this country since Vietnam.”

This is then balanced by the observation “Yet today, even war critics acknowledge that the surge of U.S. troops, far from a historic blunder, turned the tide of battle.”

It goes back to 2008 when “Mr Hegel had declared his allegiance to the foreign policy believes of now-Vice President Biden, who at one time called for Iraq to be split into three parts and opposed Mr. Bush’s 2007 troop surge in Iraq.”  When I read that I said to myself, “I knew that.”  But I would not have remembered.  Good journalism connects the dots of time. 

It is a good read.  Check out the link above.  Better yet subscribe to the Times.  I don’t get paid to say that.

homo unius libri