If you get a chance, please watch James Fallows on Reliable Sources on Sunday. He tweeted about the appearance:
Grateful for this note. Point I was making on @ReliableSources was that in crises like past month in Afgh, three duties of press:
First, cover the news/ *humanize* the news. Allowing for all imbalances and omissions, this has been greatest strength of recent (brave) reporting
Second, begin process of *accountability.* In case of this month’s news, that means: civilian and military; US, Afgh, Pakistan, and other; Immediate, and longer-term — decades in past.This has barely begun (and immediate over-reaction was “Biden’s failure!”)
Third, offer *perspective*. Put this moment on a scale with other crises and failures. “See things steady and see them whole.”
This was area where immediate US press reaction was least useful. It’s *not* like Fall of Saigon. Help public understand diff and similarities. /end
Summary on “Fall of Saigon” front:
-April 1975: actual urban warfare w shelling, gunfire, mass casualties. US airplanes couldn’t land
-US helicopters evac’ed fewer than 10k people
-1 million “boat people” left by sea; 100k drowned
-Later Khmer Rouge killed 1 million+
-Etc
Originally tweeted by James Fallows (@JamesFallows) on August 29, 2021.
Seriously, people need to read some history. If they think this evacuation was a bad as Saigon they are extremely misinformed. Refusing to provide perspective, context and historical insight to this situation has led to the worst media performance I’ve seen in years.
Meanwhile, the media should heed Fallows’ wise words about how to balance the coverage:
They are failing miserably at this right now.