Some positive comments about the phone interviews with what I guess we're calling 'ordinary Iraqis' like the doctor from Basra and the student from Baghdad today.
It would be easy for critics to point out that anyone who speaks English as well as our two guests is probably not all that 'ordinary'.
But it is better than the firefighting reporting our correspondents are obliged to do if they are to maintain even the minimum security. We are hearing about daily life for those who are not foreign journalists.
A very good idea from Bruce Burton, though, which we'll work on adopting and researching:
"Your focus on the security and political situations are understandable but surely there is another part of the story, as the poll you reported suggests.
American and coalition officials say progress is being made.
So I would urge you to check it out in a balanced and realistic way.
Pick a representative set of indicators of basic economic and social activity --electricity and water service, schools and hospitals, public transit and air service, food supplies, agricultural output, employment, and the like -- establish a baseline, and then regularly report on progress or setbacks."
I don't know how easy those figures will be to track down, Bruce. But we'll give it a go over the next few weeks.
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