Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
September 29, 2009
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But these days, the press hordes that once descended on Dover are gone, and there’s usually just one organization on hand. The Associated Press, which supplies photos to 1,500 U.S. newspapers and 4,000 Web sites, has had a photographer at every arrival for which permission was granted. “It’s our belief that this is important, that surely somewhere there is a paper, an audience, a readership, a family and a community for whom this homecoming is indeed news,” says Paul Colford, director of media relations for AP. “It’s been agreed internally that this is a responsibility for the AP to be there each and every time it is welcome.”
Colford says the AP has a photographer who lives within driving distance of Dover and is able to make it to the arrivals, no matter what time of day or night. As for the network news, it’s not so simple; a night arrival means overtime pay for a union camera crew. And then there’s the question of convenience. “It seems that if the weather is nice, and it’s during the day, we get a higher level of media to come down,” says Lt. Winter. “But a majority of our transfers occur in the early evening and overnight.”
So far this month, 38 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan. For all of 2009, the number is 220 — more than any other single year and more than died in 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004 combined.
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So all those “anti war” zealots were just playing politics.
Despicable.
I’d like to see a congress critter at EVERY arrival. Some senior administration type too. Maybe we should have a Czar a day.
Sad!
These “representatives” should see the results of their decisions!
Of course, then the congress critters wouldn’t have tome to legislate. Not that is all bad either!
Argh!
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