8 dead soldiers not worthy of the front page

Eight American soldiers died in attacks in Iraq yesterday. This is what you would have read in the Washington Post this morning.

BAGHDAD, March 11 -- Eight U.S. soldiers died in separate attacks here and in the eastern province of Diyala on Monday, the deadliest day for U.S. troops in more than two months.

U.S. officials announced overnight that three U.S. soldiers were killed and another wounded when an improvised bomb exploded near their patrol in Diyala. An interpreter was also killed. No other details were provided.

In Baghdad, a suicide bomber killed five U.S. troops as they mingled casually with Iraqis in a shopping district. The soldiers had parked their Humvees and stepped out into the warm sun and swirl of people on the main thoroughfare of what was once Baghdad's most elegant neighborhood.

Except you would not have found that item on the front page of the Washington Post. It was inside the paper.

The closest thing to Iraq coverage on the front page of the Post was a story about people who clip grocery coupons to aid military families.

The lack of importance assigned by the paper to eight dead soldiers was mentioned during a live chat with the Post's Iraq reporter, Thomas Ricks.

Newport Beach, Calif.: How is it that eight U.S. soldiers killed in one day in Iraq doesn't warrant front-page treatment in The Washington Post? Is the paper that out of touch with how much we, as Americans, care about our troops?

Thomas E. Ricks:
I can't speak for all Americans. But I can count, and there are fewer questions here today than ever before. So, judging by that and other recent indications, I think Americans really aren't paying that much attention to the Iraq war right now.

I wondered whether other newspapers were also burying the story on some inside page. So I did a little informal survey, checking out the front pages of newspapers picked completely at random.

A number of papers did put the story on their fronts:
The San Diego Union, Sacramento Bee, Chicago Tribune, NY Times, LA Times and San Antonio Express News all had stories.

The Charleston (S.C.) Post and Courier included it in a package of brief items on the front, as did USA Today. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel had a story on the front about new Marine vehicles and referred readers to the eight dead story on page 7A. It was the sixth item down in the world wrapup on the front of the Wall Street Journal.

Those who left the story off the front page include:
Atlanta Constitution, Tampa Tribune, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Examiner, Wichita (Kan.) Eagle, New Orleans Times-Picayune, Detroit Free Press, Billings (Mont.) Gazette, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Kansas City Star, Newark Star-Ledger, Fargo (N.D.) Forum, Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch, Tulsa World, Spokesman (Wash.) Review, Casper (Wyo.) Star Tribune, Orange County (Calif.) Register.

Virtually every one of those papers had something on the front page about Eliot Spitzer. At least five papers in New York devoted their entire front pages to it, which is to be expected since it's a big story for New York residents. The Niagara Gazette's banner headline was "Eliot Mess"

So, not every paper considers eight dead soldiers to be as unimportant as the Washington Post does, but plenty do.

This could be because Spitzer knocked it off the front page. That's understandable in New York and the NE, but not nationwide.

It more likely is because many newspapers:

1. Have bought into the "Surge is Working" meme.

2. Believe readers are more interested in the failing economy, sex scandals, Britney Spears or just about anything other than more death in Iraq.

3. So many have died in Iraq that it takes something truly horrific to be considered newsworthy.