I too am irked by media self-congratulation. I was watching ACA (and why not?), and couldn't believe the questions Ray threw at their woman "on the ground", Jane Hansen (who I happen to think is one of the better TV journalists). Even though she was stationed across the border, enveloped by an entire phalanx of US military muscle, the entirety of the interview was devoted to Jane's experience, as a journalist in a perilous environment: "Are you safe?"; "Do you feel threatened?"; "Have you had to wear a gas mask?"; "How have the Iraqi people reacted to you?"; "We hope you make it home safe - you're doing a great job and are making us proud...". Effectively war becomes a device or a prop that can enhance the "real news" credibility of the reporters churning out this fluff, and the networks that are demanding it. This personality-first style of reporting, as a side-effect, inflates a sense of Western subjectivity while minimising the importance of the lived experience of those actually involved. We're not hearing about casualties, or people who've lost loved ones directly, but rather we're hearing about how these events make our reporters feel. That is not war reporting.