|
David told me about a comment Bill O'Reilly made on The Factor that didn't seem correct to him.
I watched the rebroadcast and agree.
In the wake of a report about Iraq news coverage critical of the Fox News Channel, prime-time commentator Bill O'Reilly released two 'Talking Points Memos' about his coverage of Iraq.
http://www.journalism.org/node/5719
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,282894,00.html
Last night O'Reilly made a point that is often lost on journalists,
"Al Qaeda's strategy is to break the will of the American people to fight the jihad. Usama bin Laden has stated that in writing. So blowing things up and hopefully getting the carnage on TV is what the terrorists want."
O'Reilly's assertion of AQI's strategy is backed up by Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters (USA-Ret.) who wrote:
"The media may constitute the decisive element in the global counterrevolution in military affairs, and the video camera--that insatiable accomplice of the terrorist--the cheap negation of our military technology."
Noted countery insurgency expert Dr. David Kilcullen, Lt. Colonel, Australian Army writes in his 28 Articles:
"When the insurgents
ambush your patrols or set off a car
bomb, they do so not to destroy one more
track, but because they want graphic
images of a burning vehicle and dead
bodies for the evening news. Beware
the "scripted enemy", who plays to a
global audience and seeks to defeat you
in the court of global public opinion."
All of the bombs that go off in Iraq have but one purpose--media coverage, to show in a :30 second clip that all of Iraq is in chaos while the 99% that did not blow up is ignored.
Up until this point O'Reilly is spot on. He doesn't do the daily car bombing because he will not allow himself to part of Al Qaida's media battlespace and will only cover real stories, not singular events.
Where O'Reilly drifts is later in the show, which is what sparked David's curiosity.
O'Reilly said:
"OK, now this is a very serious point. FOX News has been criticized for not doing the explosion du jour. And here on "The Factor," I do stories -- we've done hundreds of them on Iraq -- when the story is advanced, when we advance the story. Because it's so dangerous for correspondents to be anywhere in Iraq, because it's an imposition on our armed forces, Bernie. And it is. They don't want reporters out there, because it's so dangerous." (Emphasis added)
I will stipulate that it is dangerous. I will stipulate that having an embedded reporter is an imposition.
But I dispute that, "They don't want reporters out there, because it is so dangerous."
In fact, the field manual written by General Petraeus and Lt. General Amos encourages embedding.
In Chapter 5 of FM 3-24 the following is stated:
5-30. Embedded media representatives experience Soldiers' and Marines' perspectives of operations in the COIN environment. Media representatives should be embedded for as long as practicable. Representatives embedded for weeks become better prepared to present informed reports. Embedding for days rather than weeks risks media representatives not gaining a real understanding of the context of operations. Such short exposure may actually lead to unintended misinformation. The media should be given access to Soldiers and Marines in the field. These young people nearly always do a superb job of articulating the important issues for a broad audience. Given a chance, they can share their courage and sense of purpose with the American people and the world.
I was able to embed with paratroopers, soldiers and Marines in the most dangerous environments for weeks at a time.
Contrary to Mr. O'Reilly's assertion, I was even pushed out to line companies by Public Affairs Officers sometimes less than 24 hours after hitting a FOB.
The Army Brigades, Marine Regiments and even a Seabee Regiment I worked with were the most gracious of hosts eager to get me out with the "young people nearly always do a superb job of articulating the important issues for a broad audience."
Officers from Brigadier General to 2nd Lieutenant took the time explain their areas of operation in detail in background briefings and on camera.
They were always willing, when the situation allowed, to indulge my questions and desire for video that does not usually make the evening news.
Now, my case be unusual. I am a former Marine. I've done Iraq before and am confident that I can handle any situation that comes my way.
As one 1st Sergeant e-mailed me:
"I knew the first day that I met you, when you went following one of my platoons over rooftops and through buildings that you were real."
One Officer wrote:
"As far as I'm concerned, you have achieved official 'DUDE" status in line with The Big Lebowski fame."
And a Marine Officer described me as a fire and forget missile. Just drop me with a unit and forget about me until I run out of tape and hitch a ride back to the FOB.
Obviously my case is not the norm.
Whether or not to accept an embed is up to the unit commanders. I have always been able to go whever I wanted. Some embeds do not. The only time I was not able to go on a mission was when some secret squirls got squirly at which point I dropped in another company on another mission.
My experience is that commanders really like guys like Michael Yon and myself who will go out for a week or two living in a crummy little outpost.
Commanders like Associated Press photographer Maya Alleruzzo who will also spend weeks with a unit.
They don't care much for the big media which drops in for a day or two to do a predetermined story then leaves.
If O'Reilly wants to say that the military does not want reporters out there because it is so dangerous, I hope he can get relevant people to confirm it
But that is not my experience and it is not what the Commanding General's own written guidance says.
And that's no spin.
Freedom isn't free...and neither is reporting from Iraq.
All of JD's income is currently supported through DVD sales and reader contributions.
You can help and:
BUY A DVD
OR you can:
Please make a contribution by choosing one of the options below.
BlogPatron is a new service which allows you to make a one time contribution or make a monthly contribution. Thanks for supporting Outside the Wire!
|
