Reply
Thu 9 Dec, 2004 09:30 pm
DENVER - Army officials barred Denver Post reporters from Fort Carson because the newspaper published an article about soldiers unhappy with their health care, a military spokesman said.
Chief spokesman Lt. Col. David Johnson said the newspaper has been eliminated from an e-mail list used to make official statements and send invitations to events. A Post reporter was also told Wednesday she could not attend a deployment ceremony that other reporters were allowed to cover.
Relations were suspended temporarily "as a direct result of Fort Carson not being given fair and balanced treatment in a story that appeared on Dec. 5, 2004," Johnson told the Post for an article published Thursday.
Sunday's front-page report focused on mentally and physically ill National Guard and Army Reserve members who say they have been denied quality care and are being pushed out of the service without disability pay. Congress has been reviewing so-called "medical holds" at bases across the country.
hmm...I was wandering through the "unanswered
posts" area of A2K, trying to find something I felt qualified to respond to. Many of these posts are by newbies who we need to encourage. I did.
Anyway, I found this by dys, posted Thurs night.
It's an interesting read, but not much to comment on beyond the obvious.
I couldn't think of anything to say either, though I found the article interesting.
I'd guess that there are considerable rumblings behind the scenes.
The Courageous Commander of Fort Carson is going to find out that the Pentagon prefers to deal with p.r. softly and subtly rather than head-to-head in the full glow of the media.
The original story won a few converts--the story about "fair and balanced treatment" is going to rattle cages on a national level.
I do hope the Post legal department is planning to seek an injunction. This seems to be a clear violation of the newspaper's 1st Amendment rights. It would be one thing to declare a news blackout. It's quite another to single out a specific target because the commander wants to muzzle the free expression of contrary viewpoints.
Dys enjoys his posts to go unanswered and the fact that six of you people have trampled on his thread is not going to sit well with him.
In todays paper, the army (Ft Carson) backed down and has readmitted the Denver Post.
When you're right, you're right. Thank you for looking out for our dear Dys. He needs all the help he can get....
Damn these posters who respond so politely, it screws up everything!
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace