Embedded journalism
Embedded journalism refers to
Journalists who instead opted to cover the war on the battlefield but unattached to any military force came to be called "unilaterals."[2] Journalists chose to act as unilaterals to avoid the restrictions imposed on them by the military, and sometimes embed restrictions, which required embeds to stay with assigned units. Or they out of concern that being under the constant protection of troops on the battlefield would bias their judgement in favor of coalition forces. The military would often regard unilateral journalists as sources of trouble on the battlefield and refuse to talk to them or not recognize unilateral journalists as "official" media.
The practice has been criticized as being part of a
2003 invasion of Iraq
At the start of the war in March 2003, as many as 775 reporters and photographers were traveling as embedded journalists.[4] These reporters signed contracts with the military promising not to report information that could compromise unit position, future missions, classified weapons, and information they might find.[clarification needed][5][6] Joint training for war correspondents started in November 2002 in advance of start of the war.[7] When asked why the military decided to embed journalists with the troops, Lt. Col. Rick Long of the U.S. Marine Corps replied, "Frankly, our job is to win the war. Part of that is information warfare. So we are going to attempt to dominate the information environment."[8]
Military control
The first journalist to run afoul of U.S. military rules in Iraq was freelancer Philip Smucker, travelling on assignment for
Just four days later,
In December 2005 the U.S. Coalition Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait pulled the credentials of two embedded journalists on a two-week assignment for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, claiming they violated a prohibition against photographing damaged vehicles.[12]
Criticism
We were a propaganda arm of our governments. At the start the censors enforced that, but by the end we were our own censors. We were cheerleaders.
The ethics of embedded journalism are considered controversial.[14][15] The practice has been criticized as being part of a propaganda campaign and an effort to keep reporters away from civilian populations and sympathetic to invading forces; for example by the documentary films War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death and The War You Don't See.
Embed critics objected that the level of military oversight was too strict and that embedded journalists would make reports that were too sympathetic to the American side of the war, leading to use of the alternate term "inbedded journalist" or "inbeds". "Those correspondents who drive around in tanks and armored personnel carriers," said journalist Gay Talese in an interview, "who are spoon-fed what the military gives them and they become mascots for the military, these journalists. I wouldn't have journalists embedded if I had any power!... There are stories you can do that aren't done. I've said that many times."[16]
On June 14, 2014,
Gina Cavallaro, a reporter for the Army Times, said, "They're [the journalists] relying more on the military to get them where they want to go, and as a result, the military is getting smarter about getting its own story told." But, she added, "I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing."[18]
Dangers
During both the
See also
- Editorial independence
- Freedom of the press
- Military journalism, as defined by United States Department of Defense
- War correspondent
- Wehrmacht Propaganda Troops, German military propaganda units during World War II
- Enemy Image, a documentary about The Pentagon's approach to news coverage of war
- Generation Kill, a book about the experiences of an embedded journalist
- Weapons of Mass Deception[1], a documentary by former network journalist, Danny Schechter. Featuring appearances by many well known journalists including Robert Young Pelton (who actually filmed the embed process and how the media worked).
References
- ^ Center, Pew Research (2003-04-03). "Embedded Reporters". Pew Research Center's Journalism Project. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
- ^ Shafer, Jack (May 1, 2003). "Embeds and Unilaterals". Slate. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ Cockburn, Patrick (23 November 2010). "Embedded journalism: A distorted view of war". The Independent. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
- ^ "Reporters, commentators conduct an in-depth postmortem of Iraq war's media coverage". www.berkeley.edu.
- ^ "Pros and Cons of Embedded Journalism". PBS. Archived from the original on 2003-04-21.
- ^ "War in Iraq -- Media embed ground rules". Archived from the original on 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2010-03-24.
- ^ Borger, Julian (1 November 2002). "Flabby journalists sent to boot camp". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ "Postmortem: Iraq war media coverage both dazzled and obscured". www.berkeley.edu.
- ^ "Silha Center : University of Minnesota". www.silha.umn.edu.
- ^ Carr, David (1 April 2003). "A NATION AT WAR: COVERAGE; Pentagon Says Geraldo Rivera Will Be Removed From Iraq". The New York Times.
- ^ "Geraldo: I Messed Up, But 'Nobody Was Hurt'".
- ^ "MRE Criticizes Expelling of Embeds Over Pix of Shot-Up Humvee – Editor & Publisher". www.editorandpublisher.com. 15 December 2005.
- Knightley, Phillip. The First Casualty, 1975. p. 333
- ^ Farrell, Stephen (25 June 2010). "Embedistan".
- ^ Myers, Steven Lee (20 August 2010). "Embedistan: Embedding in Iraq During the Invasion and the Drawdown".
- ^ Interview with Gay Talese, David Shankbone, Wikinews, October 27, 2007.
- ^ Manning, Chelsea (14 June 2014). "Opinion - Chelsea Manning on the U.S. Military and Media Freedom". The New York Times.
- ^ "Embed Cavallaro sees war from the inside". 6 April 2005. Archived from the original on 6 April 2005.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Boone, Jon (10 January 2010). "How journalists embedded in Afghanistan are too close for comfort". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
- ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Refworld - UNESCO deplores recent killing, abduction of journalists in Afghanistan".
- ^ "Woodruff, Cameraman Seriously Injured in Iraq". ABC News. 4 February 2006.
External links
- Independent Media In A Time Of War -documentary by the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center
- "War reporters get battle training"
- "Flabby journalists sent to boot camp"
- "Eyes Wide Shut? The Impact of Embedded Journalism on Dutch Newspaper Coverage of Afghanistan"
- Military Reporters and Editors Association
- Embedded at SourceWatch