Telling the Iraq Story

Americans say they are well informed about the war in Iraq, yet many question the media's performance in covering the conflict.

A new McCormick Foundation-funded online poll of nearly 9,000 respondents, conducted by The Poynter Institute and Zogby International said that while three-quarters of those surveyed thought they were well-informed about the war in Iraq through media coverage, only 18 percent rated the coverage as either good or excellent. (For more, visit: http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=101&aid=143774)

The stories respondents would most like to see covered include:

• Information about the Iraqi government 68%
• Pieces on the Iraqi people 68%
• Coverage of returning soldiers 58%

The survey was commissioned as part for a McCormick Foundation Specialized Reporting Institute on Covering War at Home. The three-day training for 18 working reporters on how to cover the impact of the Iraq war in American communities is currently being held at Poynter's headquarters in St. Petersburg, Fla.