While these suggestions of how to cope with Somalian piracy on Examiner.com are interesting enough, the article commits the sin that this week's Global Pulse episode, Somalia Beyond the Pirates, is meant to address: US news coverage too often under-reports, or does not report, on the war in Somalia, while referring to that war as a convenient scapegoat for the piracy.

In most TV news stories we found, the war or more generalized "lawlessness" is to blame for the piracy, providing an easy, research-free way of ending the story or answering the viewers questions about how piracy can exist in the modern world. Another example: the pirates have been tied to the Somalian war by a Bloomberg report, explaining only that the pirates "have access to 'the perfect arms fair' -- Mogadishu, the capital of a nation wracked by civil war." Neither of these stories even have a link to a detailed description of the war.

Better: This Chicago Tribune article describes "a covert war in which the CIA has recruited gangs of unsavory warlords to hunt down and kidnap Islamic militants" in Somalia. New and interesting information.

Best: The Christian Science Monitor, probably the best newspaper in the US (now exclusively online) shows how its done, seamlessly weaving the war and the pirates into a truly engaging and informative story.

If you find examples of reporting that ties Somalian piracy to the Somalian civil war, let us know!