Elephant in the room

This is the first sentence in David Reinhard’s column* in today’s Oregonian:

Things must be improving in Iraq, because you don’t read or hear about it as much these days. If things were getting worse — or staying the same — you can bet the big networks and newspapers would be out spreading the news.

Hmmm… gee, yeah, that’s a good point. Tell me, David Reinhard, Associate Editor for The Oregonian, the oldest and largest continuously-published newspaper in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, owned by Advance Publications, a major media corporation… can you think of any reason why there’s so little news about the daily bloodshed in Iraq? I wonder who is in control of that whole “reporting” and “getting out the news” thing that has apparently so stymied Mr. Reinhard? Oh, well, I guess “people” just don’t seem to want to hear about this stuff. That’s why it’s not in the papers.

* Link disappears down the memory hole in 14 days. Not my doing, sorry. If anyone knows how to link to Reinhard’s column so that it will work longer, I’d be happy to hear it.