As a news junkie, I feel a little lost when I miss important breaking stories. It happened again last week, when my thoughts were along the same lines as 13,000-plus others: Who made this NIT bracket? As President Bush announced the beginning of air strikes on Baghdad, Iowa State’s basketball game with Wichita State was ending, only to play Iowa next. It was, I admit, a relief not having a paper to do that night, but during the last half of break I still found myself tuning in. And in this first week of war, the varying mediums I got my war information from led to lots of wondering about just what this country has gotten itself into.

*ÿWednesday, 10 p.m.: ABC Radio has launched into full-coverage mode, complete with somber music. While we had been told the war was going to start out with “shock and awe,” the reports say that these attacks were at “targets of opportunity” on reports of a gathering of senior Iraqi leadership. Arriving home after the game, ABC TV is engaging in the same solid coverage, but perhaps it’s premature.

* Thursday, 9 a.m.: And why, exactly, are we telling the whole world where the troops are going to be moving? I can imagine the ad now for Baghdad TV: “Get up-to-the-minute information about enemy plans! Ask your cable or satellite provider today!” Or at least get a network feed.

* Thursday, 5 p.m.: Driving on Iowa Highway 315 west of Palmer, I begin to hear the Darryl Worley country song “Have You Forgotten?” for the third time. The song has been labeled as playing “a drumbeat for war,” at least that is how the Feb. 25 USA Today headline put it, yet the lyrics seem more in tune with the general war on terror than war against Iraq. Afterwards, the news break says there are unconfirmed reports the invasion has begun.

* Thursday, 9 p.m.: Television broadcasting seems to have a dual personality. Should I watch normal TV — Creighton getting pounded in the NCAA tournament — or something “serving the public interest” — a “Frontline” special incorporating decades of reports about Iraq?

* Friday, 9:50 a.m.: As the invasion is officially under way now, Fox News and CNN are trying to outdo each other with their embedded reporters and cameramen, if such a thing is possible with the footage they have. I can just imagine the TV listings as they might be printed in The Onion: “10:00, grainy footage of tanks moving through sand; 10:30, grainy footage of tanks moving through sand; 11:00, unsubstantiated reports; 11:30, grainy footage of tanks moving through sand.”

* Friday, 12:05 p.m.: The “shock and awe” phase is apparently starting, as ABC Radio is reporting about Operation “Exemplary Destruction.” Exemplary destruction? What happened to more neutral names? An hour later, just as I get into my car, “Have You Forgotten?” begins again. I wonder if, and how much, airplay of this song has increased because of recent events.

* Saturday, 10:35 a.m.: At least one radio station in the Algona area isn’t boycotting the Dixie Chicks, playing their most recent hit, “Traveling Soldier.” One of the singers, Natalie Maines, said to an audience in London that she was ashamed Bush was from Texas. While she has the right to say that, it’s also important to remember that radio stations and their fans have the equal right to refuse to listen to or play the Chicks’ music in protest. I’m sure the irony of their last hit being a war-related tune isn’t lost by those on either side.

* Sunday, 8:15 p.m.: Fox News is reporting that a chemical plant has been found. The other networks pick it up later, but there’s caution all around as to whether chemical weapons were actually manufactured at the plant. Finding any real evidence would provide a boost to those still sitting on the fence about this whole thing, myself among them. I want confirmation of some weapons of mass destruction still being active, but it is wrong to want Saddam Hussein to use the weapons he supposedly doesn’t have, right?

* Sunday, 9:20 p.m.: Michael Moore’s diatribe against the “fictitious president” (insert eye-roll here) as he accepted his Oscar was entirely inappropriate. I’m not surprised by what he did, though, given his reputation. The surprising part is that some of the audience actually booed him.

* Monday, 11:30 p.m.: In the past 48 hours, the state of the war has changed quite a bit. There are now American prisoners of war. The Iraqi military is not giving up without a fight. Officials are reiterating their belief that this conflict (war? military action? invasion? liberation?) is far from over.

* Tuesday, 1:30 p.m.: The offensive nature of this conflict isn’t encouraging. Don’t we have a Department of Defense, not Offense, for a reason? But on the other hand, Saddam had 12 years to comply with resolutions. Offensive or defensive, good progress or bad, I’m still divided about this war. According to the continual reports of protests, so is the country as a whole. The division reminds me of what a past war-time president once said before he became commander in chief, fighting a far different war at a far different time: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” If we can’t find unity now, the consequences could be worse than everything that has already happened.