This week on CounterSpin: American reporting on Iraq often leaves one with the impression that things will work out, at least for the White House, if officials can just pull off another election or train more Iraqi security forces, veteran Iraq reporter Patrick Cockburn of the London-based Independent newspaper doesn't see it that way, he'll join us to discuss Iraq coverage.

Also on the show: According to a New York Times editorial, "Just as Hurricane Katrina forced Americans to look at the face of lingering poverty and racism, this mining tragedy should focus us all on another forgotten, mistreated corner of society." Of course, the paper's narrow definition of "Americans" and their presentation of wide swaths of the population almost like one of their "Neediest Cases," says all by itself a tremendous amount about why we won't, in all likelihood, see serious attention to the dangers faced by workers in Sago or anywhere else, at least not in the pages of the corporate press. We'll hear from journalist Brian Dominick of the website the NewStandard about what lessons media could take from the Sago mine story.

LINKS:

—The Year in Iraq by Patrick Cockburn (CounterPunch, 12/31/05)
—Iraq Election Spells Total Defeat for U.S. by Patrick Cockburn (CounterPunch, 12/21/05)

—This Just In: Corporate Media Standards Scrape Bottom by Brian Dominick (NewStandard, 1/4/06)