Or perhaps it's because the media, when roused to finally cover Balkan events, still finds it more convenient to follow the official line, which has run the gamut from ludicrous to perfidious to schizophrenic. But their willingness to launch air strikes against a sovereign state, even if it's not much of one, is quite another. Already the media are beginning to look for parallels between Yugoslavia and Vietnam. They're finding quite a few. Yet, the largely free ride that the administration has received so far to pursue a policy of a military involvement may mean that it may already be too late for anything but such comparisons.
Questionable policies can only develop in an information vacuum.
If Kosovo leads to an extended American military presence in a second Balkan theater, the media must share some responsibility for letting this vacuum exist in the first place. A more welcome development is the media's reaction to reports that China, allegedly in part by spying at U.S. weapons facilities, has turned itself into an emerging nuclear superpower, capable of threatening our allies in Asia and possibly the U.S. as well. The thought of Los Angeles being incinerated and concerns about a Chinese military buildup has been enough to unleash thorough and credible coverage on front pages and evening newscasts. American editors still know a story when they see one. What reporters are discovering is a disturbing pattern of ostrich-like behavior on the part of the Clinton administration concerning China's nuclear buildup.