Pitiful. That’s how most reporters summarize their own coverage of the 1991 Gulf War. It was a low point in relations between the press and the military. Reporters say they were held hostage in military briefing rooms and force fed a steady diet of Department of Defense data.
The Pentagon is now saying this time will be different. It has a new policy for war coverage in Iraq; embedding. Journalists this time around will sleep, eat, and tramp with the troops all the way to the front lines. Skeptics say it’s more likely to create a conflict of interest than good coverage of conflict, that reporters may get too close to the soldiers they are supposed to be reporting on. Either way, the new policy marks a new relationship between those fighting the war, and those covering it.
Guests:
Charles Lewis, Washington Bureau Chief for Hearst Newspapers
Bryan Whitman, Deputy Spokesman for the Department of Defense
Eric Westervelt, NPR reporter currently in Kuwait
Chris Hedges, NY Times reporter who covered the Gulf War.