It's certainly the case that 'bad news' is a key 'news value' and also the case that ephemeral journalism is a very weak representation of any given situation, relying as it does on partial afcts coupled with interpretation embedded in discourses which are themselves highly determined and ideological. I think it is obviously important to those who look for the most optimistic outcomes of the Iraq nightmare to emphasise the positive as well as the negative, and I think it is also true that many who express about war situations are more keen to use them as theatres for voyeurism, political opportunism and, very sadly, abstract and dehumanised targets for projecting their own unresolved aggress...

It's certainly the case that 'bad news' is a key 'news value' and also the case that ephemeral journalism is a very weak representation of any given situation, relying as it does on partial afcts coupled with interpretation embedded in discourses which are themselves highly determined and ideological. I think it is obviously important to those who look for the most optimistic outcomes of the Iraq nightmare to emphasise the positive as well as the negative, and I think it is also true that many who express about war situations are more keen to use them as theatres for voyeurism, political opportunism and, very sadly, abstract and dehumanised targets for projecting their own unresolved aggressive impulses, rather than to express a wish for peace.On this particular item, of course, one should contextualise a very fragile and partial peace within the wider historical overviews, and consider, if to dismiss, the role in particular of the Shiite ceasefire and the role of the Sunni US sponsored militia.