March 26, 2003
"Embedded" Reporters
In the last couple of days, articles on "embedded reporters" have proliferated online (if anyone knows who came up with that term first, I would love to know).
"Hundreds of journalists are now embedded within military units, eating, sleeping and marching with the soldiers as they head toward Baghdad. Equipped with state-of-the-art satellites and video phones, these reporters have the capability to send a feed back home from nearly any location at any time. A form of war reporting never before seen -- a style of journalism that places viewers on the front lines, individual soldiers in the spotlight and reality-based television on a whole new level", writes Michael Friscolanti for Canada.com
Dan Gilmore offers an interesting commentary in his e-Journal blog, describing the "embedded journalists" as military public relations officers and what he finds wrong with the arrangement is "the tendency -- an entirely natural tendency -- to become part of the unit".
Christopher Ruddy in Newsmax says no to "embedded journalists". He finds it a scary and disturbing trend, making the journalists an unnecessary burden to combat troops, "which need to be worried about their own safety and focused on a single objective – victory on the battlefield. They don't need to have the extra worry of keeping unarmed, unnecessary journalists safe". He gives as an example The San Francisco Chronicle sending a 69-year-old reporter to be embedded with U.S. troops.
"On Monday, I saw just how low we had sunk in this new war when NBC showed one of its embedded journalists with a young Marine who had just been wounded. The embedded correspondent got on his satellite phone and called the Marine's mother. As the soldier lay on a stretcher and still on the battlefield, he had a chat with mom.
Sure, it made great TV. The moment should be nominated for an Emmy. But there is something wrong when bleeding soldiers have become actors on national TV and are calling home to mom in the middle of battle." added Christopher Ruddy.
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