The murder of Nick Berg was horrible. He seems to have been a good-hearted man who went to Iraq because he wanted to help rebuild the country. But why is it the top headline in newspapers around the country?

If the Iraqis had murdered a civilian hostage, the media certainly would have paid attention, but I doubt it would have been the lead story. After all, Berg’s going missing on April 9 wasn’t deemed newsworthy.

Had the Iraqis murdered a hostage by beheading him, the savagery of the act would have made the story more newsworthy, especially in comparison to the humiliations at Abu Ghraib. But I doubt it would have dominated the news cycle.

This became the lead story because there’s video of the savagery.

There’s video because Al Qaeda wanted it to be the lead story.

Al Qaeda is better at manipulating our media than it is at fighting its war.

Heather knew Nick. Other reactions from Boston bloggers at Boston-online.com.

Categories: Uncategorized dw