Today I learned about Ernie Pyle. We discussed his war correspondence and style in one of my journalism classes. Dr. Sweeny our fearless deparment head throw the question out to the class of why we thought this style of journalism is no longer seen. Christy, yes Alley Cat Christy, responded by saying that it was much more dificult for reporters to get into those positions and the government held a filter that censured everything coming out of combat areas and in her opinion was why we didn’t always hear about deaths, suicides and other misdeads until months or years later.

Sitting two chairs forward and one row to the right of me was a girl with blonde curley hair. I noticed immediately that once Christy began to respond she sat up in her chair and she tensed up as if she wanted to say something. I watched her fidget nervously until Christy finished. Sweeny commented on the fact that many stories of unilateral journalists had come out of Iraq war but that her view was definitely true of previous wars that have happened since World War II when Pyle was reporting.

The girl, I don’t know her name, waited, tensing and sitting upright until the professor finished and then blurted out that it was to protect the soldiers, that the government needed to filter information about soldier’s deaths and interactions to protect their families. Her tone was one of disgust.

Now, I do not know her name but I do know something about her. Her boyfriend is currently serving in Iraq. She made mention in one of our classes that she felt strongly about the war and that supporting the troops was a responsibility we all had and that none should consider it immoral. What I found interesting was that nothing Christy or Sweeny had said was in any way negative towards the war in Iraq nor towards the troops, but I percieved her reaction as being offended that someone would speak of a government censor or filter in a way that put it in a negative light. I honestly think she felt that she had to defend something, she had a moral right to say something.

This got me to thinking about the little blip I posted on the Spectrum and then posted here. After reading the article and then the comments, it was obvious that their were two opposing sides that felt they had something to defend, but neither really could define it nor were able to offer up a solution to the indefineable problem. Which brings me to my point, I think the biggest problem facing society today is our inability to listen. We jump to conclusions, we digress, we fail to see the point, we react because we feel we must defend something. Why can’t we just listen and react without hostility? Is it ingrained in our societal psyche? Are we incapable of discussing life without being offended or offending one another? If so, we are lost.

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