Taking a rest and the 'Fox effect' on TV news

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9 A.M. CDT

I've not posted in a while. Part of me feels like I should apologize for that. On the other hand, I enjoyed very much taking the better part of a week off from work. I may have overdone it a bit for three weeks. I deserved a rest. And I'm grateful to my editors for giving me that time off.

During my downtime, I've kept up with the news. My wife got so tired of stopping every morning to buy me a New York Times that she finally consented to a home subscription.

On the other hand, I've gone up to 12 hours without turning on a TV set or reading headlines on line. Last Wednesday, in fact, I came in to attend a class on resiliancy training -- or how to cope with stress and change. When the class was over, I popped downstairs to say hello, only to discover Baghdad had fallen that morning. The managing editor told me they had considered putting out an extra but then dismissed the idea. "We would have come upstairs and pulled you out of the class," he said.

Graphics wise, life has returned to normal at the Register. Our department has processed very few war pieces in the past week or so -- perhaps a text box or a locator or two. My young associates ran the place quite well last week. I'm keeping it that way while I catch up on administrative tasks and answering my e-mail this week.

Yesterday, one of my artists asked me if we should begin preparing for a war with Syria. It actually took me a moment to realize he was joking.

Today, the Des Moines Register began a series of excerpts from the diary of Marine Sgt. and Iowan Jess Horsley. We had published a nice excerpt from his pre-war e-mails to his mother a while back. Apparently, we'll be running these though Sunday, tracking the Marines from Kuwait to Nasiriyah.

I notice the New York Times' excellent back-page map has morphed lately into demographic information. They ran into the same problem I had two Fridays ago: Once Baghdad was taken, troop movements sort of became beside the point. Then, today the Times took down the size on the map. It's been a great run for them.

Speaking of today's Times, there's an interesting article about what it calls the "Fox News effect" on TV journalism that's taken hold during the war (Registration required).

I've got to admit, it's bothered me at times. I've written extensively how I've admired MSNBC's coverage of the war, but I've been known to change channels during Joe Scarborough's show and especially when Michael Savage makes his appearances. During my time off, I attempted to sample more of the Fox News coverage and found that I simply can't stand it.

But MSNBC, CNN and NPR don't bother me at all.

I keep flashing back to a movie from a few years ago called "Starship Troopers." The movie contained long stretches of faux-TV news coverage footage of a battle between futuristic humans and an alien race of bug creatures. The movie was supposed to be satire, but the more I keep watching Fox News, the more I'm convinced real life has caught up with satire.

The ratings, however, suggest that Fox is striking a chord with the American TV viewer.

What troubles me the most about this is that I find myself troubled by it.

charles.apple@pilotonline.com