She explains that Yost can’t criticize coverage of Iraq because only the press knows the real story. Some folks are “blinded from seeing the real Iraq” because of their politics. A military friend of hers can’t see the real Iraq because the “tall blast wall and miles of concertina wire obscure the view.” Clark Hoyt, Knight-Ridder’s Washington editor seconds Allam’s assessment, saying that news from servicemen and women is “limited and incomplete” because they operate within the Green Zone, and are shielded from the Iraqi public.

So, in case you’re keeping score, the list of people who can’t deliver the real story of Iraq:

• Anyone with pro-war politics
• Anyone in the U.S. who has heard stories from military friends, but not spent a week with Allam in Baghdad
• Anyone who fought in Iraq

Wow, talk about job security. I smell a slogan. Knight-Ridder: Closer to the Fight Than the Marines. Hoyt and Allam would have us believe that no one is capable of delivering truth from Iraq except the press. All others are mere mortals whose perceptions are shaded by politics, motives, and proximity to the Green Zone, but reporters are, of course, impervious to such things.

5. Just admit when you’re wrong.

The only reason we do know that the Pioneer Press is working on its coverage of the Iraq war is because the guys at PowerLine were privy to an internal memo. The memo suggests that some of Yost’s points were valid, but you wouldn’t know it from all the outward blustering, threatening, and name-calling. Yost brought up a problem many media consumers have with the media, and the Press appears to be addressing that problem.

If they would just let their audience know that, they’d gain a lot of points with half of their readership.
    
6. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

I know I’m showing my crazy, fundie Christian side with the Scripture-quoting here, but stick with me. Imagine a company—a dreaded corporation, for instance—that is taking criticism for some of its business practices on a daily basis from about half its shareholders and customers. Imagine that one employee brings the criticism to public attention. Let’s call him a “whistleblower.” Imagine that employee is then called names and threatened with the loss of his job.

Corporate executives then suggest they are immune to criticism simply by virtue of the fact that they are executives doing hard work. They also claim they are the only ones who can discern the real truth and are, therefore, unassailable. The company then tries to fix the problem by issuing a secret, internal memo without ever addressing the criticism publicly. I’d love for someone to show me a reporter who would buy that, because I’m also trying to get  rid of some oceanfront property on Capitol Hill.

Liberals are always complaining, especially during wartime, that conservatives wrap themselves in the flag to deflect just criticism of “unjust” policies. If the press doesn’t stop wrapping itself in noble newsprint to deflect criticism of its wartime coverage, wrapping something is about all the paper’s going to be good for anymore.

Mary Katharine Ham is Senior Writer & Associate Editor at Townhall.com