When The Going Gets Tough Stop Reporting It

Seems the propaganda wing of the Bush Whitehouse ain't banging the big war drum quite so loudly these days, there's nothing like a clusterfuck to quieten the patriotic yap.

Attention to the war dropped in all five media sectors surveyed. Network evening news, the sector that gave the war the greatest share of attention in the first quarter, scaled back more than 40 percent, from 33 percent in the first quarter to 19 percent in the second, the study showed.

On cable television, another leader in first-quarter coverage, the slide was nearly as great, from 23 percent of news reported to 14 percent -- a drop of 39 percent, the project said.

The bulk of the fall took place after May 24, when Congress approved war funding without including troop withdrawal timetables. *This was widely viewed by the media as a victory for President George W. Bush in a political battle with Congress sparked by his January 10 troop "surge" announcement. more

*And a few disillusioned Dem voters I shouldn't wonder.