Bradley J. Fikes here, with a guest post by the grace of Dr. Capt. Mike K.
ABC News is outsourcing its breaking news coverage of Iraq to the British Broadcasting Corp. ABC will no longer have a full-time correspondent there, although it will keep its bureau and Martha Raddatz will continue to do periodic embedded reports.
I understand the need for cash-strapped news organizations to cut costs wherever they can, but this is a terrible decision. America has more than 100,000 troops in Iraq, and has spent years trying to stop terrorism and build a democracy there. We have spent hundreds of billions of dollars and sacrificed thousands of American lives to that end. Whether or not you agree with the Iraq war, Americans have a vital interest in good coverage of what’s happening there.
News coverage from an agency headquartered in another country, even an ally, is no substitute for an American presence and perspective. This is independent of the question whether the BBC is a reliable news agency. Feel free to contribute your opinion on whether it is in the comments.
ABC could have easily contracted with the numerous American news organizations that are keeping an Iraq presence. Truly daring and farsighted leadership would have reached out to some of the excellent independent reporters such as Michael Yon or Michael Totten, broadening the perspective of ABC’s Iraq coverage. Instead, one MSM dinosaur has mated with another. I don’t think the offspring will be very attractive.
There is no news now that we are winning.