Middle East Crisis: Where’s Sadler?; Shep’s ‘No-Spin Analysis;’ Distorted Reporting?

> An e-mailer asks: “Where’s CNN’s Brent Sadler? As I recall, he has (had?) been Beirut bureau chief for many years. I haven’t seen him on the air…”

> An e-mailer writes: “Shep Smith gave the most credible, no-spin analysis of the Middle East Crisis speaking off-the-cuff from the Israel-Lebanon border to Greta van Susteren, live on Wednesday night. He brought in a knowledgeable, fair, in-depth perspective from what happened 20 years ago that really added to viewers’ understanding. It was Shep at his best.” I saw it last night and I totally agree…

> A writer on Al Jazeera’s Web site, watching American TV in Beirut, says “a growing body of distorted reporting is being disseminated just as rapidly as the country is being destroyed…”

> Public Eye has a great post featuring Sharyn Alfonsi and Richard Roth‘s thoughts about covering the crisis. “In THIS region is that there’s hardly a word or a phrase that one side or the other doesn’t find ‘loaded.’ And one side’s history is another side’s propaganda,” Roth says…