BuzzMachine

The media pundit's pundit. Written by NYC insider Jeff Jarvis, BuzzMachine covers news, media, journalism, and politics.

Hostage

11 comments on Hostage

Hostage
: I don’t get it: The story of the American hostage in Iraq is top-of-the-screen news on British sites — the Telegraph, the Guardian, and the Independent — but it’s buried on the big American sites. Aren’t we all fearing a replay of Beirut? Shouldn’t it be even bigger news here because the man is American and because Americans are at risk in Iraq and because we have such a painful history with hostages in the region?

: Update: I picked up my NY Post and Daily News and Star-Ledger and they all played the story properly. I just can’t figure out the underplay from the Times and Post (online, at least).

11 responses to “Hostage”

  1. jacksback Avatar
    jacksback

    huh? it’s on the cover of todays Daily News (NYC), NY Post (NYC), and both Philly papers….excuse me?

  2. sol Avatar
    sol

    I don’t think Americans think, at this point, that you inflate the importance of a single (or even more) hostage. That plays into the terrorists/fascists hands.

  3. michael Avatar
    michael

    Os, Sol, so how many hostages does it take for Americans to wake up and take note of the situation? I’m sure the family of that hostage will appreciate that we’re not “inflating” the importance of his/her capture.

  4. Peter Avatar
    Peter

    So. What do we do, give in to the hostage takers and simply have more hostages?
    The only way to solve the problem of the use of hostages as a tactic of war is to assume that all hostages are already dead and act accordingly. Any other course of action merely ensures that there will be more hostages.
    The question of what to tell the families of hostages is fatuous. We tell them what we told the families of those young men and women on the USS Cole. We tell them what we tell the families of those Marines in Falujah and Ramalidi.

  5. domingo Avatar
    domingo

    Thomas Hamill’s 2×3 photograph is on the front page of my Sunday paper. American are paying attention, in a quiet way. We do remember Daniel Pearl. We do remember Beruit. We do remember Tehran.
    The hostage situation brings to mind something Donald Sensing had posted on April 3rd.

    Jesus’ soul was raised, i.e., he was put to death prior to the arrest and crucifixion of his body. Thus, his persecutors arrested, tortured, and crucified an empty body – Jesus was already gone to the world of souls (Quran 3:55, 4:157).

    As I read this, it’s telling me God has the upper hand.
    It’s Easter Sunday and I am saying prayer for Thomas Hamill and his family. I am praying for steely resolve and his safe return home.

  6. Mithras Avatar
    Mithras

    The media is afraid they’ll get blamed for creating a firestorm of negative press if they publicize American hostages too much. The right is already gearing up to blame the “traitorous liberals” at home for stabbing America in the back.

  7. Syl Avatar
    Syl

    I really think the NYTimes (the Dem mouthpiece) isn’t emphasizing this hostage because he is a CONTRACTOR. And because of KOS, the Dems have decided to make a stink about contractors (what THEY call mercenaries) and not treat this with the same deference they would, say, one of our military or a reporter.
    Count on it. They’re sick.

  8. sol Avatar
    sol

    Very bad theology, Domingo. The Koran is not a source for truth about Jesus any more than a Course in Miracles or the Satanic Bible.

  9. AST Avatar
    AST

    It seems once again that these people seek to use our own humanity against us. It makes me a little more sympathetic to Assad’s handling of the Islamist rebellion at Hama. It’s tempting to slash the knot rather than to patiently unravel it, but of course it’s not a choice.
    This would be a good time to ask Al-Sistani to come in as a mediator, but it should not be allowed to affect our military operations in any way.

  10. HarryS Avatar
    HarryS

    Hostage taking seems to me to be a tactic of people who have run out of options workable ideas. It is somewhat of a passive/agressive tactic. The ‘ol, if you don’t stop beating on me and do as I say, I’ll kill the hostages, futility. It just so “last ditch”.

  11. Shannon Love Avatar
    Shannon Love

    I don’t think hostage taking is news any more.
    At any given time their are at least dozens of American citizens being held hostage in some part of the world or the other. With hundreds of thousands of Americans in Iraq it was inevitable that some would get grabbed by the amoral bad guys. It’s not a big story because it surprised no one.
    Also, everybody knows that the best way to handle a hostage situation is to publicly ignore it. News organizations that give the story prominence help nobody except the hostage takers.