More from MRC:

Back in September, when General David Petraeus reported that the surge in U.S. troops had improved the security situation in Iraq, the big three broadcast networks were openly skeptical.

“Insurgent attacks are down from 170 in January to 120 in August,” ABCs Terry McCarthy noted on the September 9 World News Sunday, the day before Petraeus testified before Congress. “But that is still four attacks a day, on average. Iraq remains a very violent place….Life in central Iraq is still deadly dangerous.”

“Victory is not at hand, not even in sight,” CBSs David Martin similarly contended on the next nights Evening News. On the NBC Nightly News, reporter Jim Maceda found it “palpably quiet”in an area of Iraq once controlled by Sunni insurgents, but “this is really an exception….That civil war as, again, as you get out of the capital of Baghdad, it is truly brewing. So this is really just a partial success for this surge so far.”

Based on this analysis, it appears that the tone of reports is improving consistent with the results on the ground…a promising revelation. The problem seems to be that good news from Iraq has caused less OF it to be shared with the American people…we ‘consumers of fine journalistic excellence’ from the big networks. Must be a coincidence, right?

The numbers, according to MRC:

MRC researchers examined all 354 Iraq war stories that aired on the big three evening newscasts from September 1 through November 30, including weekends. That figure includes 234 field reports, plus 120 short headline items read by the news anchor.

Back in September, as reporters voiced skepticism of General Petraeus progress report, the networks aired a total of 178 Iraq stories, or just under two per network per night. About one-fourth of those stories (42) were filed from Iraq itself, with most of the rest originating in Washington.

In October, TVs war news fell by about 40 percent, to 108 stories, with the number of reports filed from Iraq itself falling to just 20, or less than one-fifth of all Iraq stories. By November, the networks aired a mere 68 stories, with only eleven (16%) actually from the war zone itself.

It’s pathetic…not only the numbers, but the origins of the reporting. Remember, please, that not so long ago anyone with an opinion on Iraq was vilified (if the opinion was positive) for not actually having BEEN there…soundly disqualifying anyone who might have wanted to be hopeful or optimistic or…

wait for it…

in SUPPORT of the efforts on the parts of our men and women over there.

No surprise really, but sad nonetheless. The silver lining in this report is the extent to which the dinosaur/driveby/lamestream media only continues its slide down the slope, getting ever-closer to obscurity.

There’s that, at least.