Two Different Languages

MSNBC correspondent Ashleigh Banfield was reprimanded by her network following a speech she gave at Kansas State University about U.S. news coverage of the war in Iraq. Too bad, because it was a pretty good speech. Banfield criticized the "glorious, wonderful picture" that the media painted of the war, saying it "wasn't journalism." But she also provided valuable insights into the "two different languages" with which the combatants on opposing sides of conflicts see the world. "You cannot negotiate when someone can't hear you or refuses to hear you or can't even understand your language," she said, "and that's clearly what's happening in a lot of places in the world right now, the West Bank, Gaza and Israel, not the least of which there's very little listening and understanding going on."