Good Iraq coverage inherited from Knight Ridder

Michael Massing who writes for the New York Review of Books notes that McClatchy Newspapers have always done things differently in Iraq. From the start, McClatchy's Baghdad bureau has made a special point of reporting on the lives of ordinary Iraqis and on the impact the war has had on them, he notes. About a year ago, McClatchy Newspapers set up a blog exclusively for contributions from its Iraqi staff. "Inside Iraq," it's called, and several times a week the Iraqi staff members post on it about their experiences and impressions. "It's an opportunity for Iraqis to talk directly to an American audience," says Leila Fadel, the current bureau chief. As such, the blog fills a major gap in the coverage.

Former BJ copy desk chief Larry Froelich doesn’t think any credit should go to McClatchy however. The Iraq reporting strategy evolved on the watch of the Kniight Ridder Washington Bureau which was the only major news service to break from the pack on WMD during the runup to war, warning that the administration's 'evidence' was thin and unsupported; “I ran the story on A1 way back when,” writes Froelich.. :”But at least McClatrchy isn't backing off. An in-house advisorysays a series is almost ready on those counterfeit N. Korean-made U.S. $100 bills that were supposed to be circulating a few years back to disrupt the world economy. Just like the WMD scam, the bogus bills report is turning out to have no merit. Another disinformation ploy, courtesy of our government.”