
 |
|
February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
Sept. 28, 2005
/ 24 Elul, 5765
How the Pentagon could improve Iraq media coverage
By
E. Thomas McClanahan
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Can we win a war opposed by the media?
Take the case of Vietnam. The press was initially supportive of the
war but then turned against it. Reporters portrayed the conflict as
unwinnable, even though the tide was turning at the time U.S. forces
began withdrawing. Relentlessly negative coverage contributed to the
ultimate defeat.
In Iraq, the underlying message of the media is similar. This war
has become unwinnable. We've taken on too much.
In one sense, most journalists always operate from a built-in bias:
Most define news as something that went wrong, blew up, came apart
or revealed incompetence.
Reporters are predisposed to play up the latest study on the latest
crisis in nutrition or focus on where institutions are not
functioning well. That's what the press is supposed to do.
Yet the coverage from Iraq is tainted by the additional bias of
agenda journalism. It's no secret that many reporters covering the
war see it as fraudulent or illegitimate. Many see it as a metaphor
for American arrogance. All of this is fairly apparent from the
coverage.
I supported the war. I don't think President Bush had any choice but
to remove Saddam Hussein from power. But if I were against the war,
I'd cover it precisely as it's being covered today with a heavy
emphasis on mayhem and U.S. casualties and far less attention to the
slow but steady progress on the political front and what our forces
are doing to the insurgents.
But one question rarely considered is this one: Is the military
doing as much as it can to help get the broader story out? Probably
not.
Last year, a Rolling Stone piece on the Baghdad media detailed the
unremittingly dangerous nature of the work. Because of the risk of
death or abduction, most reporters are cocooned at one or two
hotels, where they write reports based on telephone interviews,
daily briefings, wire reports and Al-Jazeera broadcasts.
According to the article, many were trying without success to
become embedded with a U.S. combat unit, and not only because that
would take them closer to the action. Many considered being embedded
safer than working in Baghdad.
In a report to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, retired Gen.
Barry McCaffrey criticized the multinational coalition's public
diplomacy, which he called a "disaster." U.S. authorities, he said
after a trip to Iraq, "are not aggressively providing support
(transportation, security, food, return of film to an upload site,
etc.) to reporters to allow them to follow the course of the war."
A Defense Department spokesman said that on average, there are only
about two dozen embedded reporters in Iraq, although the number has
jumped to 35 in recent days because of the ongoing military
operation at Tal Afar.
Reporters quoted in the Rolling Stone article complained of long
waiting lists for journalists seeking embedded status. But the
Defense spokesman, Lt. Col. Barry Venable, said the door was open.
Most news organizations, he said, "have opted to keep folks in
Baghdad, given the limited resources they have in Iraq. ... With
embedding, you can cover the unit you're with, but it's hard to
cover anything else."
Some of the good news doesn't get out because military officials
don't want it out. Michael Yon, a former Special Forces soldier who
patrols with Army units in Mosul and writes about his experiences on
a blog, observes that he is often told to publish nothing even when
things go well.
"Just why the military considers some information `classified' while
other information gets the `go ahead, write it' shrug, is not based
on logic, science, or even one of those absurd but ironclad rules
that codify so much of the military," Yon wrote.
"Many explanations for the military's requests not to publish
certain information do not hold up well to scrutiny. For example,
our soldiers capture or kill top terror figures in Mosul routinely,
sometimes in stunning operations that display split-second timing.
The `higher ups' often say, almost reflexively, that they don't want
the enemy to know about these kills or captures."
But why, he asks? After all, when a terrorist is missing, it's
hardly a secret to his relatives and fellow terrorists.
Yon traveled to Iraq at his own expense because what he saw in the
media differed greatly from what his friends in Iraq described. He
wanted to see for himself how things were going.
That's one difference between this war and Vietnam. News consumers
can find sources, like Michael Yon's blog, that frame the story
differently from the line taken by the Baghdad media. Even so, if
the Pentagon wants a better press, I'd say it should do more to
encourage embedding, which would lead to more stories showing what
U.S. forces are doing, as opposed to reports that focus on insurgent
attacks. In short, the Defense Department should take McCaffrey's
advice to heart.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
E. Thomas McClanahan is a member of the Kansas City Star editorial board. Comment by clicking here.
Archives
© 2005, The Kansas City Star. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services
|
|

Arnold Ahlert
Mitch Albom
Jay Ambrose
Michael Barone
Barrywood
Tony Blankley
Lori Borgman
Stratfor Briefing
Mona Charen
Linda Chavez
Richard Z. Chesnoff
Ann Coulter
Greg Crosby
Alan Douglas
Larry Elder
Suzanne Fields
Frank J. Gaffney
Bernie Goldberg
Jonah Goldberg
Julia Gorin
Jonathan Gurwitz
Paul Greenberg
Argus Hamilton
Victor Davis Hanson
Betsy Hart
Ron Hart
Nat Hentoff
Marybeth Hicks
David Horowitz
Jeff Jacoby
Renee James
Paul Johnson
Jack Kelly
Ed Koch
Ch. Krauthammer
Michael Ledeen
John Leo
David Limbaugh
Kathryn Lopez
Rich Lowry
Michelle Malkin
Jackie Mason
Ann McFeatters
Dale McFeatters
Dana Milbank
Jeanne Moos
Dick Morris
Jim Mullen
Deroy Murdock
Judge A. Napolitano
Bill O'Reilly
Kathleen Parker
Star Parker
Dennis Prager
Wesley Pruden
Tom Purcell
Sharon Randall
Robert Robb
Cokie & Steve Roberts
Heather Robinson
Pat Sajak
Debra J. Saunders
Martin Schram
Culture Shlock
David Shribman
Roger Simon
Michael Smerconish
Thomas Sowell
Ben Stein
Mark Steyn
John Stossel
Cal Thomas
Dan Thomasson
Bob Tyrrell
Ben Wattenberg
Diana West
Dave Weinbaum
George Will
Walter Williams
Byron York
ZeitGeist
Mort Zuckerman

Robert Arial
Chuck Asay
Baloo
Chip Bok
Dry Bones
Lisa Benson
John Branch
John Cole
J. D. Crowe
John Deering
Brian Duffy
Everything's Relative
Mallard Fillmore
Glenn Foden
Jake Fuller
Bob Gorrel
Joe Heller
David Hitch
Jerry Holbert
Lee Judge
Steve Kelley
Jeff Koterba
Dick Locher
Jimmy Margulies
Rick McKee
Michael Ramirez
Kevin Siers
Jeff Stahler
Ed Stein
Danna Summers
John Trever
Gary Varvel
Kirk Walters

Mr. Know-It-All
Dr. Peter Gott
GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
Richard Lederer
Frugal Living
Tech Maven
On Nutrition
Bookmark These
Bruce Williams
|