Sam Husseni, media director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (formerly of the Institute for Public Accuracy) challenges Jeff Cohen’s article that coverage of the Winter Soldier hearings was a “victory for independent media.” The hearings were organized by Iraq Veterans Against the War and showcased some powerful testimony from American veterans on the breakdown of the military, corporate takeover of the military, veteran healthcare and more. It was amazing and heartbreaking stuff.

I’m going with Sam on this one. Jeff cites three media outlets (three!) that covered the hearings live. Free Speech TV, Pacifica and Real News. I heard that the BBC was there as well. (And In These Times and AlterNet wrote articles later.) Brava to all of them. They put some resources into what could have been an incredibly important media moment that had real political impact. For all our talk and outrage of how the Bush administration is running (or not running as the case may be) this war and treating our veterans like crap, we don’t take the time to hear from and cover the very individuals who have personal insight into the terrifying events overseas and the aftermath of when they come home?

I can almost understand why the corporate media didn’t cover the events. It’s not about the election? This is a messy story? It exposes the America’s regular and ongoing military atrocities? No, no, not so comfortable with that. But the independent, progressive media? Maybe much of the independent media could argue that they didn’t have people in DC to cover the events. But funny enough, I saw many of them at the annual Beltway progressive conference, Take Back America just a day later.

We’re all figuring out how to prioritize our resources and capital. I just wish that sometimes we think outside the box and not follow in the mainstream media’s footsteps in terms of what we deem priority coverage.

Ok–done with rant now.