How do you feel about the news from Iraq?
| 11:57 UK time, Tuesday, 23 January 2007
March 2nd: Thanks to everyone who contributed to our programme discussing this question. There's been a massive response to this blog post, and it was great to be able to put the conversation on air. We heard from Iraqis both at home and abroad, ´óÏó´«Ã½ correspondents, and lots of listeners called in to ask questions and share their views.
Kenneth was one listener who caught the show:
I was very moved by the topic, in particular the emotional voice of the exiled Iraqi doctor: she put the awful situation into words and feelings. The situation is so terrible, and so mis-managed, as one of the studio guests pointed out.
Thanks to everyone who contributed. You can read some of the texts that came in here, and keep the conversation going here on the blog. Here's the original blog entry from Jan 23rd that started it all off:
One story we weren't planning to talk about on Monday's edition of World Have Your Say was .
It's a measure of how commonplace violence is in Iraq that these attacks did not become a lead story for many major newspapers, websites and broadcasters until the death toll passed 50. It also has to be said that there was no particular surge in emails and blog posts from you wanting to talk about it.
But as the day went on, as a news programme it became impossible to ignore what was happening.
The death toll passed 100 before we went on air (it's now reached 150) and it had become the deadliest day of the year in Iraq.
So we decided to ask you how you feel when you hear about the violence in Iraq? Do you feel angry, sad, maybe even bored or indifferent?
We had plenty of responses during the programme - Uche in Nigeria was brutally honest "Here, news about deaths in Iraq is often met with indifference - unless something unusual occurs," he admits.
William in Kent wants to know what's going on, no matter what:
"You posed the question about how I feel when i hear the news from Iraq?" he writes. "My answer is sad and angry, but certainly not fed up with hearing about it."
"Needless to say, one does get inundated with news from Iraq, the American casualty list and increasing death toll," says Emm in Baltimore, USA
"I would love to NOT hear a death toll or casualty count from Iraq - but only if it's because there were no casualties and no deaths."
Geoff in Portland, Oregon says "I feel completely disgusted and helpless. I have always been staunchly opposed to the invasion of Iraq and have voted accordingly.
"Being an American citizen, I am partly responsible for the countless, needless deaths and it sickens me, yet I feel helpless to affect any change."
This anonymous comment came in from the Czech Republic: "Every drop of Iraqi blood sacrificed by the invasion matters."
But does a drop in the ocean matter as much as a drop in a puddle?
"I'm sad to say that I accept less than a certain number of deaths as commonplace," confesses Meg in Washington DC
But she adds: "Reading about more than a hundred dead I was surprised by how upset I was. I wondered not only when the violence will end, but also about practicalities like where are they putting the bodies? And who is dying? Poor people, rich people, visitors, workers? Those were my thoughts this morning."
How do you feel about the way the conflict in Iraq is reported? At what point does a car bomb in Iraq warrant a place at the top of the headlines? If 20 people were killed by a car bomb almost anywhere else, it's likely that would be higher up the news agenda.
As the conflict approaches the end of its fourth year, do the relentless reports of casualties (of all nationalities) cease to have the impact they once did - both on you and the media you use for your news?
Post your thoughts below.
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