We Want Media

The cover story for this week’s issue of Newsweek, "Voices of the Fallen," features the e-mails and letters of those soldiers who gave their lives in Iraq. The piece is predicted to stir controversy because attempts in the past to include subject matter related to fallen U.S. soldiers have been met with hostility; ABC even stopped the airing of an episode o "Nightline" in 2004 because the program included a reading of the names of fallen soldiers.

I am glad that Newsweek has decided to go ahead with this piece. Overall, the media have been responsible for seriously downplaying the issue of the war in Iraq. Whether you agree or disagree with our presence in the country and the politics behind the war, the fact remains that there are Americans fighting, and dying, in the Middle East.

To deny coverage to something that has taken the lives of thousands is inexcusable. Those who have fallen have voices that deserve to be heard by the people of the United States; and it is up to the media to provide us with these voices. Kudos to Newsweek's editor, Jon Meacham, for going forward with the story.