A writer’s journal for
Sunday, December 14, 2003
VISIT Reuter's official web site
9:45 am
All we were expecting today was another snowstorm. Instead, President George
Bush woke up at 5:14 a.m. this morning to learn that he had finally captured Saddam
Hussein. There was no word of it in the Sunday newspapers. I just found out while
eating breakfast with friends on what began as a quiet Sunday morning. "Hey, did
you hear they got Saddam?" someone said. "No way?" was all I could say. Now at
home, my first instinct is to turn on CNN television, but I learned during the
OJ trial and the Iraq War that their TV coverage is repetitive, overly analytical
and exhaustingly intense. Rather than be assaulted by the endless babble of reporter
commentary, I opt to get the story on the Web.
10:30 am
The impact of the photos is still sinking in. No matter what your politics regarding
the war in Iraq, the capture of a scruffy, bearded Saddam Hussein hiding in a
six-foot deep "spider hole" outside a farmhouse in his hometown of Tikrit is a
shocker. I am reading the coverage on CNN.com. The fact that Saddam is in custody
and alive, not taken in a horrible battle like his sons, takes a moment to comprehend.
Will this be a massive victory for Bush, or will the living Saddam turn into an
even greater nemesis? Right now the former dictator merely looks broken. I want
to watch the news video clip online, but the web site requires a $9.95 monthly
payment for a CNN News Pass. I’ll try Reuters web site instead.
10:45 am
Awesome. In a world where symbolism speaks louder than facts, this imagery carries
a wallop. I’m sure we will grow sick of this clip, but the humiliating silent
footage of a doctor combing Saddam’s hair for vermin, then taking a DNA swab from
his mouth is chilling. Bush must be walking on air. I simply followed a button
to Reuters Television for the video at no fee.
11:30 am
I’ve been poking around the site, looking mostly at the photos in the gallery.
Many broadcast and print media get their news from Reuters, so this web site offers
much more raw data and images without all the commentary. I feel closer to the
truth of things here. According to the "About Us" section, Reuters does not print
unsubstantiated news, does not allow its reporters to express personal views and
does not use provocative language in its reporting. As the largest multi-media
news service in the world, the company says it does not take sides in war and
works to present the truth. Now that’s a unique approach. The company makes 90%
of its income by providing financial information, has been around since 1851 and
started when its German founder began sending news between cities using carrier
pigeons.
12:00 pm
President Bush is going to speak any minute according to National Public Radio
which I have playing in the background. I pray he has the good sense not to gloat.
It must be difficult for some Iraqis to see the only leader they have ever known
so debased on international television. I can see from the Reuters news photos
that the footage of Saddam’s medical exam was played around the world. How different
from our own Civil War when, after 364,511 deaths, General Grant and General Lee
met with equal dignity. After defeating Admiral Pearson at the Battle of Flamborough
Head, American naval captain John Paul Jones refused to allow his enemy to give
up his sword. Reports are now focusing on the fact that Saddam was toting $750,000
in United States currency and, although he had a gun, did not take his own life.
CNN must be having a field day with this stuff, but Reuters simply reports. It
is refreshing having the opportunity to form my own opinion about the story as
it progresses.
12:30 pm
Bush did well, managing to act presidential and avoiding any hint of glee in
his brief speech. Mere seconds after he spoke, images of Bush began appearing
in the Reuters photo gallery. Every 10 minutes or so another image from the Saddam
story appears as Reuters reporters capture the world’s reaction to the news. Since
a picture is worth a thousand words, the large format photos speak volumes. An
elderly man reverently kisses a massive color billboard of a smiling Saddam. Children
in Bagdad, one brandishing a pistol, react to news of Saddam’s capture. An Iraqi-American
girl in Michigan sits on her father’s shoulders waving a sign that says "Free
at Last."
12:58 pm
A copy of the well-known playing card with Saddam as the ace of spades appears
stamped with the word "Captured".
1:22 pm
Public radio commentator Nina Totenburg has finally asked the question – How
will this news affect George Bush’s plans for re-election? An email from an American
soldier in the fourth infantry division in Iraq is being read online. Apparently
the soldiers are watching the same news I am. Saddam’s capture has raised their
spirits and they can hear celebratory gunfire nearby in Baghdad. On Reuters.com,
I can see images of men and boys gleefully shooting their machine guns. Saddam’s
capture is "an early Christmas present" the soldier writes.
2:00 pm
The story has peaked. Reuters begins to add supplemental pictures, mostly shots
of people all around the world watching the news about Saddam on television. We
see George Bush in his office making phone calls. A shot of a man in a Santa suit
breaks the mood. Free Willy the famous whale is dead at 27. Another American serviceman
is killed today in Iraq, but no one seems to notice.
4:00 pm
Reuters and CNN both have refined their coverage of the story and settled on
a single image of the bearded Saddam. The catch phrase of the "spider hole" has
given way to the headline of Saddam caught "like a rat". CNN.com has now fleshed
out its own library of still images and begun to break the story into neatly understandable
bits – the search, the informant, the capture, the interrogation, Bush’s speech,
world reaction. The news machine is digesting. Sidebar stories about the Saddam’s
cement hiding area and reaction by the Democratic candidates begin to take hold.
6:00 pm
The fury, for today at least, has passed. National Public Radio has returned
to its regular programming after covering only the Saddam capture all day. Reuters
is focusing on the impact the day will have on tomorrow’s stock market. CNN is
advertising its evening line-up of feature news specials and the glossy graphics
are appearing. CNN offers a three-dimensional tour of Saddam’s bunker.
Now the backstory begins. Reuters is reporting that Time and Newsweek are reporting
that Saddam denies he ever had weapons of mass destruction. "Don’t shoot!" he
reportedly said when captured, stepping from his bunker. Now the whole thing will
come unraveled, and the media will dissect the details ad nauseum. The spin masters
will turn the tale every way imaginable. Reuters is offering prints of the day’s
photographs for $30. The photos and videos are now archived on the web site, but
their initial impact has already begun to fade. A new Washington Post-ABC News
poll taken after news of Saddam’s capture shows President Bush’s approval rating
inching upward. Somewhere a script writer is starting work on a TV-miniseries.
The storm has finally arrived, covering the yard in white. The snow will turn
to ice, the forecast says, then to rain. Tomorrow will be another slippery day.
