This week on CounterSpin: while media watchers and right-wing bloggers went on the attack over a New Republic columnist's writings about the behavior of U.S. troops in Iraq, an exposé in the Nation magazine has gone relatively unnoticed. The magazine spoke to 50 combat vets about things they had seen—and done—in Iraq; we'll speak to Laila al-Arian, co-author of the Nation report "The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness."

Also on CounterSpin today: "I must have done ten stories in a day about Britney Spears shaving her head." That's just one of the complaints voiced by broadcast journalists in a new survey. The report is full of vivid illustrations of the sorts of problems media critics worry about, but in the voices of journalists themselves. We'll hear from Ann Toback of the Writers Guild of America, East about that new report.

Links:

— The Other War: Iraq Vets Bear Witness, by Chris Hedges & Laila Al-Arian (Nation, 7/30/07)

— Broadcast Newswriters Speak About News Quality, by Ann Toback et al (Writers Guild of America, East, 7/25/07)