Nightline plans to dedicate their entire show this Friday to showing pictures, and reading the names, of the men and women from the armed forces who have been killed in combat in Iraq. I resent this and sent this following email:

I do not plan to tune in to this friday’s episode titled “The Fallen”.

As a matter of fact I resent your broadcasting it.

Doing so, without presenting the basis and context of why they died is very one-sided.

I don’t understand why ABC would continue to almost daily report dead counts. At what number should the US pull out of IRAQ? That seems to be your implied question. Whether intended or not, I believe this shows a bias by the newsmedia to concentrate on the bad side of War. Why would anyone support it given the unbalanced coverage?

Why not dedicate a show monthly to list all public service deaths? Is a soldier’s life worth more than a policeman’s? What about all the military deaths outside of Iraq and Afghanistan? Why not list the deaths of innocent people in the USA that are cut down by crime every day? Why aren’t they worth a mention?

Our society and particularly the news media seems to promote sensationism and helps create inequities when it comes to putting a value on someone’s life.