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The Media vs. the US in Iraq, pt. 287
By Michael Fumento
According to an article in today's Washington Times, "One retired officer attendee [at a closed-door conference last spring at Fort Carson, Colo.] made notes and e-mailed his minutes of the session to other officers. The notes say there was general agreement on one issue: the 'mainstream media'largely ignore progress. A commander said an embedded reporter filed a generally positive story on the operation in Tal Afar, only to see his stateside editors gut it and apply a negative spin."
In fact, editors have grown increasingly resistant to embedding reporters with combat units, something they demanded be done before the invasion in March 2003. The purported reason: They think contact with U.S. service members hurts the reporters' objectivity. They come to see the world through the eyes of the troops," said the retired officer's e-mail. Now, newspapers and magazines rely heavily on Iraqi stringers who telephone in reports from various combat scenes.
"We are clearly winning the fight against the insurgents, but we are losing the public relations battle, both in the war zone and in the States," said the e-mail.
July 17, 2006 05:55 PM ·
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