Verdict mixed on 'embedded' reporters

Washington Times ^ | 11/6/03 | UPI

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

CARDIFF, England, Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A study conducted for the BBC of reporters embedded in military units during the Iraq war has produced a mixed verdict.

Cardiff University analysts, in a study announced Thursday, concluded such reporters were generally able to preserve their objectivity, but the practice raised serious concerns in several areas.

[caisson71]

In other words, they weren't allowed to show only the negative aspects of their experiences? I would say there was probably more "reporting" by the embeds than there is now. Could it be that the embeds had their butts on the line and weren't able to retreat to their safe hotels to "edit" their reports? Imminent danger of of getting shot or blown up will always bring out the best in good men, including reporters.

[Rightone]

Embedded reporters was a brilliant idea and it stopped the normal negativity that we get from the biased media. When the reporters were actually out there with the troops, they saw things a lot differently than when sitting back in an "ivory tower." Just brilliant.

[OldFriend]

Oh, the BBC......very important what they think!..NOT

[meema]

When Tori started talking about this last year, I thought the Pentagon had taken leave of their/it's senses!

When the invasion happened, I loved it! It was easy to get the 'big picture' by reading the Trib and all we have available on the net.

[marron]

The primary complaint against the embeds is that the news bypassed the news managers. It went straight from the field to your living room, leaving the anchors and analysts looking a little silly.

The stated complaint, which is that an individual embed could only see a very narrow slice of the war, was bogus. There were between 500 and 700 of them, plenty to give a well rounded picture when you put them all together.

And pulling it altogether would be the job of the anchor and the "analyst". But with the reports coming to your home "raw", they could analyze and coordinate but they could not distort nearly as easily. They hated that.

The other good thing about the embeds is that they, and we, could see for ourselves that the usual bias, that the soldiers are baby-killers, is just false. The soldiers are our kids, and our dads, and our brothers, they are the people we know, and they behave more or less just as we would expect them to. Better, really. And the embeds saw that.

[AmericanVictory]

The idea seems to be that we should pretend neutrality and help the other side whenever possible.