Is anybody else out there getting tired of how shallow, repetitive, and incomplete "news reporting" has become?
Here are a few answerable questions about what's happening now that could be reported on and answered by the "media" - instead of subjecting us to the same stories over and over again all day long from all the usual talking heads, who rarely, if ever, have something useful or informative to say beyond what we already know.
1. How accurately is Israel able to target the missiles it is launching into Gaza. The IDF almost certainly knows the GPS coordinates of every building in the GAZA strip. Are its missiles GPS guided?
2. If the answers to 1. is: "Yes - the IDF's missiles are GPS guided," then the question is whether the IDF is following its policy of not targeting hospitals. (A pertinent related question: does Hamas have any history of using hospitals in GAZA as shields for its materiel, personnel, communications, or other infrastructure?)
3. How many fighters does Hamas have? How many are in Gaza? Where else are they located? (I think I heard one commentator - retired General Barry McCaffery - mention in passing in one of his MSNBC commentaries that Hamas has 10,000 fighters, but other wise it's been crickets on this obvious question.)
4. What exactly is the scenario motivating the US putting two carrier groups in the eastern Mediterranean beyond "discouraging other players from entering the war." What does that mean? Does it mean that if other players enter the war and attack Israel, the US will launch air attacks from the carriers against those players - in which which case has the Congress given its permission for that to be done? If such attacks are launched, will they be restricted to occur only on Israeli territory being attacked by those other players? Or does it mean, the carriers will respond only if they themselves are attacked, which leads to the question: does somebody actually think it's possible other potential players wuill attack the carrier groups?
5. Is it true that some of the leaders in Hamas live in Qatar (not the Gaza strip? What are their names and where are they living in Qatar?
6. Now that Ukraine has used ATACM's to attack what have previously been secure Russian forces deep in eastern Ukraine, why isn't the US providing Ukraine with F-16's as well to attack Russian forces wherever they are in Ukraine?
7. At what point does it become clear that Putin is not going to order the use of nuclear weapons on Ukraine - or anywhere else, for that matter - no matter how badly Russia keeps being defeated on the Ukrainian battlefields? Is it possible he recognizes that if he were to issue such an order, cooler heads in the Kremlin and Russian military (who fully understand the existential consequences that could have for Russia) would unite against him and remove him from office?
8. If a pollster calls me, should I take the time to answer the questions? Why? (In particular, would my answering help to ensure the pollsters are getting truly random samples of potential and/or likely voters?)
Yes! I am beyond frustrated with the media coverage and am starting to tune it out because I'm learning nothing. I wait for updates on my phone from NYT or WaPo and try to sort it out from there.
Is anybody else out there getting tired of how shallow, repetitive, and incomplete "news reporting" has become?
Here are a few answerable questions about what's happening now that could be reported on and answered by the "media" - instead of subjecting us to the same stories over and over again all day long from all the usual talking heads, who rarely, if ever, have something useful or informative to say beyond what we already know.
1. How accurately is Israel able to target the missiles it is launching into Gaza. The IDF almost certainly knows the GPS coordinates of every building in the GAZA strip. Are its missiles GPS guided?
2. If the answers to 1. is: "Yes - the IDF's missiles are GPS guided," then the question is whether the IDF is following its policy of not targeting hospitals. (A pertinent related question: does Hamas have any history of using hospitals in GAZA as shields for its materiel, personnel, communications, or other infrastructure?)
3. How many fighters does Hamas have? How many are in Gaza? Where else are they located? (I think I heard one commentator - retired General Barry McCaffery - mention in passing in one of his MSNBC commentaries that Hamas has 10,000 fighters, but other wise it's been crickets on this obvious question.)
4. What exactly is the scenario motivating the US putting two carrier groups in the eastern Mediterranean beyond "discouraging other players from entering the war." What does that mean? Does it mean that if other players enter the war and attack Israel, the US will launch air attacks from the carriers against those players - in which which case has the Congress given its permission for that to be done? If such attacks are launched, will they be restricted to occur only on Israeli territory being attacked by those other players? Or does it mean, the carriers will respond only if they themselves are attacked, which leads to the question: does somebody actually think it's possible other potential players wuill attack the carrier groups?
5. Is it true that some of the leaders in Hamas live in Qatar (not the Gaza strip? What are their names and where are they living in Qatar?
6. Now that Ukraine has used ATACM's to attack what have previously been secure Russian forces deep in eastern Ukraine, why isn't the US providing Ukraine with F-16's as well to attack Russian forces wherever they are in Ukraine?
7. At what point does it become clear that Putin is not going to order the use of nuclear weapons on Ukraine - or anywhere else, for that matter - no matter how badly Russia keeps being defeated on the Ukrainian battlefields? Is it possible he recognizes that if he were to issue such an order, cooler heads in the Kremlin and Russian military (who fully understand the existential consequences that could have for Russia) would unite against him and remove him from office?
8. If a pollster calls me, should I take the time to answer the questions? Why? (In particular, would my answering help to ensure the pollsters are getting truly random samples of potential and/or likely voters?)
I've been listening to NPR and they have had some excellent reporting. You are asking great questions. Send these to them!
Good questions! I share them and the thinking behind them.
WRT to Question 5, The Economist (British, not American, of course) published an informative interview with Moussa Abu Marzouk, a Hamas leader in Qatar on October 11. Apparently they DO have a bifurcated leadership, one part in Gaza and one part in Qatar, and the two parts have growing political differences: https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2023/10/11/a-hamas-leader-refuses-to-admit-his-group-planned-to-kill-civilians
Yes! I am beyond frustrated with the media coverage and am starting to tune it out because I'm learning nothing. I wait for updates on my phone from NYT or WaPo and try to sort it out from there.