Chapomatic

Mark Bowden has an article in the Atlantic that is his usual feat of weaving first-person narratives–getting the story behind the Iran takeover of the American Embassy.

But here’s the part that I’m interested in, an editorial by him:

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News Judgment and Jihad

Terrorists depend on the cooperation of the media. It’s time to stop providing it

by Mark Bowden

As I write this, three more Western workers have been kidnapped and beheaded by insurgents in Iraq. The pattern is by now sadly familiar. Foreigners are taken hostage. Videotapes are released of the captives kneeling before their masked, armed captors, and demands are made. As the deadline approaches, new videotapes are released of the captives pleading with their governments, often tearfully, to meet the kidnappers’ demands. Then comes video of the grisly beheadings.

The first time this happened, it was horrifying and startling. Now it has become horrifying and predictable. Yet many of America’s newspapers and TV networks continue to treat these criminal atrocities as the most important news of the day.

This is definitely a teaser that got my attention. Since the untimely death of Michael Kelly I’ve lost much of my interest in the Atlantic, but these flashes of brilliance still pop up…