Rush release for Haggard single

Merle Haggard’s record label is rush-releasing his new single, “That’s the News,” a song critical of the media’s handling of the continuing U.S. military involvement in Iraq. The 66-year-old country singer and songwriter’s music has been heard infrequently in recent years on youth-oriented commercial country stations, but the new song has generated significant interest following a piece that aired Monday on Fox News Channel in response to a July 15 story in The Times.

Copies of “That’s the News” are being sent to radio stations this week, and the song will receive its broadcast premiere today or Friday on XM Satellite Radio, Tom Thacker, vice president of Nashville-based Hag Records, said Wednesday.

In the song, Haggard criticizes mainstream media for focusing more attention on stories such as the death of Laci Peterson and her unborn child than on the continuing violence in the Middle East.

-- Randy Lewis