Jewish World Review June 24, 2003 / 24 Sivan, 5763

Terry Eastland

Eastland
JWR's Pundits
World Editorial
Cartoon Showcase

Mallard Fillmore

Michael Barone
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Larry Elder
Don Feder
Suzanne Fields
James Glassman
Paul Greenberg
Bob Greene
Betsy Hart
Nat Hentoff
David Horowitz
Marianne Jennings
Michael Kelly
Mort Kondracke
Ch. Krauthammer
Lawrence Kudlow
Dr. Laura
John Leo
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Chris Matthews
Michael Medved
MUGGER
Kathleen Parker
Wes Pruden
Sam Schulman
Amity Shlaes
Roger Simon
Tony Snow
Thomas Sowell
Cal Thomas
Jonathan S. Tobin
Ben Wattenberg
George Will
Bruce Williams
Walter Williams
Mort Zuckerman

Consumer Reports


Whatever the Lynch story, everyone wants it


http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | Private Jessica Lynch is in the news again, not because of anything she did in Iraq but because of the news media's pursuit of her.

Getting Private Lynch is the new storyline, as in getting an exclusive interview with her.

Last week, The New York Times reported CBS' efforts to be the first to interview the former prisoner of war. In news circles, an interview with someone like Ms. Lynch is known as "the get," meaning that the person to be interviewed is of such renown (for whatever reason) that news organizations seek to be the first to "get" the person booked.

In letters to Ms. Lynch's representatives that were "obtained" by The Times, CBS News Senior Vice President Betsy West combined her interview request with other "projects" the Army private might want to consider.

Those projects would involve not CBS News but the other divisions of its huge corporate parent, Viacom. They include a movie with CBS Entertainment, a book with Simon & Schuster, a special with MTV Networks, an hour-long music-video program with MTV2 and a special edition of Total Request Live.

The Times wrote that CBS News, in making its pitch, "renewed concerns among critics about the independence of news divisions owned by media giants." The network has spent the week fighting back, insisting on its independence and maintaining that there was "no quid pro quo stated or implied," as Ms. West has said.

If CBS does get the interview and if Ms. Lynch agrees to do a book or a movie or MTV, it will be hard for Ms. West and her colleagues to rebut the suspicion that they in effect paid for the interview. And when the interview airs, it will be fair to ask whether CBS adhered to professional standards or instead asked questions influenced by Viacom's other investments in her.

Donate to JWR

The irony of the media's pursuit of Ms. Lynch is that whoever does interview her is unlikely to learn much about the events that made her a "get."

Recall that she was a member of the Army maintenance unit that, after taking several wrong turns, was ambushed in southern Iraq on March 23. Eleven American soldiers were killed.

Five others were captured and later freed. Ms. Lynch also was captured and, having suffered severe injuries, was held separately at a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq. She had been there nine days when Marines executed a daring nighttime rescue.

Initial news accounts told how a frail, 19-year-old supply clerk from West Virginia had emptied her M-16, killing several Iraqi soldiers while being stabbed and shot up.

Think of Davy Crockett's last stand at the Alamo (at least as the movies portray the scene), except that in Ms. Lynch's last stand the hero is a heroine barely out of high school and doesn't draw her last breath.

However - and this is a big however - those first reports were wrong.

In an exhaustive re-examination of the story, The Washington Post recently found that Ms. Lynch tried to fire her M-16 - but it jammed. She killed no Iraqis and was neither shot nor stabbed. Her injuries occurred when the Humvee she was riding in hit a jackknifed U.S. truck. According to two anonymous sources, she was "mistreated by her captors."

The Post concludes that her story is "far more complex and different than" was reported, with much of it "shrouded in mystery," in large part because Pfc. Lynch has yet to tell her version of events.

Actually, she is unable to. She has been in Walter Reed Medical Center for more than 70 days. And her doctors "are reasonably sure," an Army spokesman told The Post, "that she does not know what happened to her."

So, the important question right now isn't one to be asked of Pfc. Lynch. It is one about her memory - whether she ever will be able to recall those wrong turns, the ambush, her captors, her treatment at their hands and her rescue.

Those are the things most people would like to know about --- from her.

The hope that she may be able to tell us is also a hope for her full recovery.

Appreciate this writer's work? Why not sign-up for JWR's daily update. It's free. Just click here.




JWR contributor Terry Eastland is is publisher of The Weekly Standard.Comment by clicking here.

06/18/03: A judge shows he can set aside his strong views
06/04/03: Boston church becomes politically important again
05/28/03: YWCA names culture warrior as its new head
05/23/03: Washington steps in to help teach history
05/13/03: It may take another election to change filibuster rules
05/07/03: Paige works to improve education from inside out
04/30/03: Iraqis have choice to make regarding religious freedom
04/16/03: Is it acceptable for an education secretary to state a personal preference for religious schooling?
04/08/03: University officials must put academics ahead of athletics
04/02/03: Support for our soldiers means support for their orders
03/27/03: 'Free Iraqi Forces' underscore Bush's sincerity
03/18/03: Dems misunderstand judge's job
03/13/03: Justices show right restraint in ruling on anti-crime measures
03/05/03: America's imperial intentions
02/25/03: The weakness of Dems' stated reason for their filibuster makes you wonder whether it is the real reason
02/19/03: Administration fine-tunes religious rights in public education
02/12/03: France and Germany need to be reminded of the necessity of a strong, even predominant America
02/06/03: Judiciary's 'balance' -- or lack of it -- is our doing
01/29/03: The child who almost wasn't
01/21/03: President decides to punt on affirmative action case
01/14/03: Bush's faith has influenced his conduct in public office
01/07/03: Dems need ideas, not more microphones
12/17/02: Gray Lady should learn that times have changed
12/10/02: Will High Court be guilty of activism?
12/03/02: The missing facts in news accounts of Saudi Princess Haifa's putative 'charity'
11/26/02: Americans don't have to be worried about Big Brother
11/19/02: Texas' reputation for flamboyance may be revised
11/11/02: Bush now can repair confirmation system
11/05/02: Dems shouldn't believe too strongly in history
10/30/02: Snipers had lots of motives
10/23/02: No one should be shut out of marketplace of ideas
10/15/02: Open hearings that could imperil the nation
10/08/02: Debating the clear and present danger
10/01/02: A great awakening in China?
09/25/02: Abortion, again? The settled but still unsettling law of Roe v. Wade
09/18/02: A relevant presidency--and irrelevant U.N?
09/10/02: Ashcroft's obtuse judicial statement
09/04/02: The Education Gadfly stings again
08/28/02: So then let the president declare war
08/21/02: Will Bush finally 'fix' affirmative action once and for all?
08/06/02: President must take up cause of Egyptian democracy warrior
07/31/02: With each war, civil liberties are curtailed less

© 2002, Terry Eastland