In quantum physics there is a formula for determining how much the locating and measuring of a particle effects the particle itself.
In the social sciences, it is called the Observer Effect .
For a war correspondent embedded in an infantry unit the question of the observer effect cannot be dismissed.
Which was the point of my brief comments earlier this week on HBO's mini-series Generation Kill .
How much did Evan Wright's presence with Marines from the 1st Recon Battalion affect what happened, especially in light of his being an always on print reporter?
The exact same question could be pointed at my documentaries filmed as an embedded reporter in Iraq.
Quite a few people have commented on my writing about Generation Kill. Many seemed to have missed the thrust of my remarks--or perhaps I was just 'in-artful.' Some failed to notice that I've spent many months in Iraq with Marines and Soldiers and dismiss me as a mere 'conservative commentator.'
But I do think a discussion of the observer effect and Generation Kill is important.
In an upcoming documentary, we quickly delve into the observer effect. How much did my presence with a camera documenting the event (a raid/firefight/hostage rescue) modify the event? (In fact, it was that question, posed by one of my producers, that changed the entire approach to editing the documentary.)
Unfortunately it is impossible to set up a double-blind test to determine with precision how much my presence affected the events--but there is no doubt that it did. There are times during the gunfight that the Soldiers are talking directly to me.
The most obvious example my presence affecting an event is in this clip from my documentary Danger Close .
If I was not there, Hegland may not have made the roof run and he definately would not have been talking to me. He definately would not have talked to a fellow soldier the way he talked to me.
My presence with a television camera changed the event.
Even larger questions: Does my visible presence effect enemy operations? Does my presence focus soldiers on the task because they know they are being watched?
In the social sciences the observer effect is mitigated in experimentation by telling the subject the study is measuring X, when in fact it is actually measuring Y.
I do what I can to blend in--but there is no mistaking that big black glass and metal device on my shoulder for anything but a camera.
That would be the disadvantage of the camera--its obviousness.
The advantage of the camera is that it captures voice tone and expressions, and, most importantly, it can be turned off.
My rule is simple--if they camera is on, you are one the record. If the camera is off, things might be used, but only in a general background way without attribution.
A print reporter like Mr. Wright is always on so the temptation for a Marine to 'peform' for the reporter is always there.
In making my documentaries I have a what I think is a distinct advantage over many reporters--I was a Marine. (Some would say that is a disadvantage and maybe it is.)
A comfort level is easier to establish as a former Marine. This comfort level is best seen in my first documentary Call Sign Vengeance.
Producers from a cable networked frequently remarked that they had never seen anything like those interviews because they were not a reporter interviewing a Marine infantrymen--it was two Marines having a conversation.
I spent not just days or weeks with the Marines of Vengeance platoon--I spent months with them. By the time I conducted most of the interviews I was no longer a filmmaker/embedded reporter. I was a member of the unit.
The question is did that level of familiarity defeat the observer effect or ingrain it even deeper?
The observer effect, the uncertainty principle, should not lead people to dismiss Generation Kill or any product from an embedded reporter.
Embedding is the only practical way to observe the war first hand, to see it from the ground and gather facts at the level where the boots meet the asphalt--where policy, strategy and tactics are implemented.
A viewer of Generation Kill also must understand that they are several layers removed from the original--Evan Wrights observations & interviews, distilled into a book, distilled into a screen play, interpreted by a director, performed by an actor and captured by a cinematographer.
My documentaries eliminate most of those steps, but I still have shot 200+ hours of video tape to make four documentaries (it will be five documentaries in a few weeks.)
If there can be controls for the observer effect the first level is with the reporter to try and eliminate any 'performing' by Soldiers and Marines for the benefit of the reporter. The second level would be with the viewers and readers who need to be aware that the observer effect exists.
Unlike quantum physics, there is no clear formula to measure the observer effect in combat.
But it clearly does exist.
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