These are difficult days for the newspaper business. Circulation is shrinking for most big city newspapers and advertising is down. This means that revenues are sharply lower as well. Many in the press are looking outward blaming video games and television. Perhaps a little introspection is called for. The choice of news items and the way in which they are presented may be doing more to turn away readers. Two examples are recent coverage of the Iraqi conflict and missiles in Gaza.

On the first, if there is even a hint of unjustified action by American troops, it receives broad coverage in The New York Times, Washington Post and other leading newspapers. Unauthorized interrogations, unjustified shootings, and excessive use of force are three of the familiar patterns that the press likes to beat to death. There is a whole other side to each of these issues that is entitled to far more press coverage. What about the crimes being perpetrated by the Sunni insurgents against Shiites or the killing by Shiite militias or even so-called government troops in cleansing actions? These are mentioned in the press but do not receive nearly the coverage of alleged wrongful acts by Americans. Likewise, the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein against the Iraqi people receive barely any coverage; even when mass graves are uncovered. Nor is there sufficient recognition of the tremendous risks and dangers confronted by American troops on a daily basis.

I would like to read more about the increased competence with which the Iraqi forces are performing. There are now almost 250,000 Iraqi troops and their fighting effectiveness has been increasing. Likewise, the Iraqi government, while not perfect, has achieved some success in trying to govern the country despite the violence. We never read anything about these positive developments.

I have no doubt that press coverage of the war is skewed by editorial positions against the President and his launching of this war in the first place. Personally, I think that commencing the war to oust Saddam Hussein was a worthwhile objective. To be sure, every step we have taken was, in hindsight, perhaps not the best. This does not justify the type of biased coverage that we are subjected to daily.

Then there is the matter of missiles in Gaza. Imagine for a minute if missiles were being launched from somewhere in Mexico against the San Diego area on a daily basis, what the United States reaction would be.You can be sure we would get our planes up in the air, try to locate those missile sites and pound them. You can also be sure that there would be some accidental civilian casualties. The blame for those should not be laid on the United States, but rather on the Mexican authorities that police their own territory and could shut down the firing of missiles.

This is precisely what is happening in Gaza. The militant Hamas group is now in charge of the Palestinian government in Gaza. Unquestionably, they have the authority and the resources to shut down the firing of missiles if they want to. They choose not to and hence they bear responsibility for the Israeli attacks that inevitably will cause some unintended civilian casualties.

The Palestinians have a long history of using their own people as human shields. Gunmen and terrorists hide in homes, hospitals, and mosques. The Palestinians therefore bear enormous responsibility for civilian deaths, even when inadvertently caused by the Israelis.

Moreover, not all the civilian casualties are the responsibility of the Israelis. Clear evidence has established that the death of the family on the beach about a week ago that made headlines around the world with pictures on the front page of The New York Times was caused not by Israeli shells, but by landmines planted by Hamas. The Palestinian government didn’t even have the decency to post signs on the beach for its own citizens telling them “Land Mines. Do not picnic here.”

It is perhaps too much to hope for unbiased evenhanded reporting in these two conflicts given the strong direction of the editorial policy of most newspapers. However, readers can also take action and stop buying the newspapers with biased coverage.