Embedded journalism?

hopefully, and possibly accidently, some truth and accuracy will leak out.

I think that it is getting to be TOO much reporting. People are getting caught up in the miniutae of the war, so that it becomes more difficult to perceive the larger picture.

I heard a radio pundit describe the reporting of the war as "The Ultimate Survivor Show". It is getting to be like a three ring circus, and is also allowing the "talking heads" a lot of rope in creating "spin".

When there is a lull in the action, the reporters in the US regale us with commentary and explanation, ad nauseum.

Let the troops do their job, let the reporters report at reasonable intervals. But I wish they would cut out this real time crap. I don't think that anything helpful is coming out of it!

IMO it degrades the quality of the journalism but helps the military very much.

It could be the answer to their problems with journalism. It offers them greater control while giving the journalists more access.

I'm in favor of the varied points of view from an assortment of embedded media people.

Iraq is not a simple country. Saddam is not a simple dictator. Islam is not a simple religion. Warfare is complicated, both technically and geographically.

Right now there is no clear and overwhelming story--and because of the varied reports from the embedded journalists the war is being covered piecemeal rather than from a Pentagon-assigned point of view.

The Virtual Reality shows are subjected to intensive editing. A real war is quite another kettle of fish.

Remember, this is news--not entertainment. Breaking news, by its nature, is an untidy beast, unkempt, uncombed and honestly disorganized.

Having no TV, I catch glimpses of the reporting on the the screens at school. So far, all I've seen are a bunch of Ken and Barbie's in hyper exploitation mode. Sort of like a "Three Kings" with too many rabid reporters.

It's bollocks - how do you know the reporter isn't 'reporting' with the automatic weapons of his embedded unit on them? They'll end up in a Stockholm situation, "I have to lie to protect my Marine comrades!".


If I sound a little critical I do have a pertinent observation. Like everybody else I spend some time watching the progress of this war (when I'm NOT explaining the war to my six year old daughter, or commiserating with my 67 year old mother who lived on the receiving end of the other big war of the C20th). As the reporters get more involved in the action, they start to reflect the view of the soldiers and military in general. The action around the troop movements into southern Iraq, is curious. Every second reporter says "This advance has secured the largest oil-fields in Iraq" - not "Millions of democracy-loving Iraqis have welcomed the liberating Coalition troops". These guys are just spouting what they're being told is the real reason for this.

Mr Stillwater
I think you are oversimplifying it. They are reporting what they see and hear. But one must remember they are only seeing snapshots of what is going on. However if you put all those snapshots together a picture emerges. Is that useful or of value to the people on the homefront or for that matter the troops and their leadership. I wonder?

A quite helpful source/map:


Media Map of Iraq - A bird's-eye view of where journalists are

Walter thanks for the map!

Authorized sanitized reporting.

For those who are critical of embedded journalism, how would you suggest that the war be covered by the media? As we know the easiest thing in the world is to criticize.

I suggest the war be covered exactly like it was in Vietnam.

since then, the military has been concious of how they use the media and this latest move (with embedded journalists) is exactly what they need.

I think Afghanistan was covered the way it should have been. The only qualm I had there was when the military restricted access to private satelite photos by buying exclusive rights to them and would restrit journalist's access to the field.

With embedded journalism the sense of more access is given while the same restrictions apply. This is perfect for the military, it makes the media look involved, the talking heads get to play GI Joe, but does little to add to the public's information.

2 journalists and 2 photographers have turned up in Jordan after being held captive for a few days by saddam's government!

craven
How was it covered in Viet Nam?

In Vietnam there was less of an attempt to control the tone and content of what was reported. The effect this lack of editing had on war weariness is a lesson the military will never forget.

www.aeronautics.ru

I read this site a lot at the moment. Some of the predictions and information they gave early on has been proven right, and their casualty figures are slightly more believable.

the journalism of vietnam caused the white house/pentagon to lose an audience for the war. embedded journalists in Iraq do have something to offer but it is not enough to promote adequate understanding of larger questions. just an opinion.

To most of the "Embeds", war and the military are a strange and wondrous outworld, and their experience and perception of war and the methods of the military are less objective than amazed.
I find the most credible of the source to be Ollie North ... if he just weren't so damned proud of "His" Marines, he'd be more objective, but he is factual in a way I find rare among most of the others. Often, the way Ollie DOESN''T say something far more clearly reveals, at least to those of military bent, the reality of the overall military situation than any amount of misinterpretation or over exuberence from a newbie possibly could.

edition

A new kind of war coverage - so far, a plus for viewers

By John Hughes

SALT LAKE CITY – Reality TV has come to the Iraq war and so far it is a plus for the viewers. More than 500 journalists are "embedded" with American and allied military units. The TV reporters are providing remarkable live coverage not only to American networks and stations, but also to non-American news organizations ranging from the Middle East network Al Jazeera to government broadcasting operations in Beijing and Moscow.
Print journalists have a long tradition of covering wars in foreign places, but moving picture coverage is relatively recent, and till now there has been nothing as instant and far ranging as we are seeing from Iraq.

continued at
http://csmonitor.com/2003/0326/p11s01-cojh.html