Looking Up

Well, here's further evidence that the media representation of news is not reality.

Glenn Reynolds:

HMM: "In a recent poll, more Iraqis, who live in Iraq, say Iraq is headed the right direction than Americans who merely watch TV reports about Iraq or read newspaper reports about Iraq."

I actually took the time to go through the entire poll. It's fascinating: Iraqis are generally upbeat about their country, clearly spelling out what they think its issues are and clearly concerned with them - but not in despair at all. I found one aspect particularly fascinating:

Nationallly, 75% of Iraqis say the security situation in the country is poor.

But, when asked about the security of their own neighborhoods, 60% give the security in their town or neighborhood a passing grade.

This shows the power of the media to conflate a perception–even among those closest too it.

Fascinating.