NEW YORK — On the cable networks there is plenty of talk about
Iraq, from speculation about quagmire to the political
ramifications for 2004. But there is little enthusiasm for
reporting on American soldiers themselves or paying brief tribute
to the lost, beyond a constant updating of the death figures. Like
some kind of grim jayvee team, U.S. soldiers who have fallen in the
“postwar” don’t count for as much as those who had the good sense
to die when everyone was watching. The only soldier any broadcast
outlet seems eager to discuss is Jessica Lynch, whose story no one
can agree on.
After President Bush declared the “end of major combat
operations” on May 1, the cable networks effortlessly returned to
their prewar programming staples — pop culture and true crime. At
the time, this made sense; few expected the casualties of the
postwar to exceed the official war. But the bloody postwar is now
several months old and you still wouldn’t know it from watching the
primetime cable news shows, saturated with coverage of Scott
Peterson and Kobe Bryant, and having just received a bonanza with
the Michael Jackson case. That the networks are motivated by
ratings and ratings alone doesn’t qualify as a stunning revelation,
but, like a chronically cheating spouse, the reality doesn’t get
any easier to accept over time.
Unfortunately for fans of Fox News, the network has not done
itself proud in this respect. While Brit Hume and Tony Snow provide
solid political analysis in the early evening, Fox’s rent is paid
by its primetime talk shows — “The O ‘Reilly Factor,” “Hannity and
Colmes,” and “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” — and these
programs just can’t be bothered with something as trite as a fallen
U.S. soldier. Considering the way Fox trumpeted itself after
September 11 as the network whose anchors were unafraid to wear
American flags in their lapels, its devotion to primetime trash
makes all that patriotic bluster pretty hollow.
The stench from Fox’s garbage tends to be worse than that of its
competitors, if only because the network is so invested in the idea
that it actually gives a hoot about American troops. Worse,
considering Fox’s political sympathies, a viewer might reasonably
suspect that the tabloid fare is not only good for ratings, but for
crowding out discussion of what the network considers unpleasant
political realities.
Military families must be enraged when night after night, Kobe
Bryant and Scott Peterson lead the coverage on the “network America
trusts for fair and balanced news,” while their own sons barely
warrant a mention or an onscreen photo. Instead, they are treated
to Sean Hannity’s nightly buffoonery, as he talks over any guest
with a remotely different perspective from his own. Is it so much
to ask that a few minutes’ worth of Hannity’s verbal flatulence be
devoted to recognizing the life of a fallen soldier?
When Hannity and Alan Colmes are through, don’t look for any
relief from Greta Van Susteren. As likable as she is, her program
has become almost completely dominated by the Peterson case. Soon
she’ll be on full-time Wacko Jacko duty. As for Bill O’Reilly, he
is usually too busy plugging Who’s Looking Out For You? to
look out for American soldiers.
Even during the height of the Iraq war, Fox wore its
self-aggrandizement on its sleeve. While visiting with some U.S.
soldiers, correspondent Oliver North asked the soldiers in camp
what their favorite network was. They obligingly shouted, “Fox
News!” Six months later, North’s visit seems high-minded by
comparison to the current programming. Are the talk show hosts and
executives at Fox ever chastened when another American son falls at
the hands of barbarians and all they can find time for is endless
discussion about hair samples in the Peterson case? Or does the
emptiness of their product reflect an equally vacant
conscience?
With the Peterson and Bryant trials just starting and the
arrival of the Jackson case — a Trial of the Century that may
eclipse O.J. — Fox will have a surplus of garbage to pick through
for the foreseeable future. The network ‘s windbag hosts will
blather on, while half a world away the brave and anonymous men
they pretend to honor fall, like the proverbial tree in the woods,
silently.
