Cry Bias, and Let Slip the Blogs of War

WSJ ^ | 26 JULY 2006 | MIKE SPECTOR

[radar101]

J.P. Borda started a Web log during his 2004 National Guard deployment in Afghanistan to keep in touch with his family. But when he got home, he decided it was the mainstream media that was out of touch with the war.

"You hear so much about what's going wrong," he says. "It gets hard to hear after a while when there's so much good going on."

Mr. Borda, a specialist, read other soldiers' blogs and found he wasn't alone. Hundreds of other troops and veterans were blogging world-wide, and many focused on a common enemy: journalists.

Military blogger J.P. Borda, center, during his 2004 National Guard deployment to Afghanistan

The 31-year-old software analyst, who now lives in Dallas, wanted to make it easier for people to read soldiers' accounts. So he started a Web site, Milblogging.com, to organize as many blogs as possible by country, military branch and subject matter. Today, the site links to more than 1,400 military blogs world-wide and was recently purchased for an undisclosed amount by Military.com, a Web site catering to soldiers that is owned by Monster Worldwide Inc.

Now, Mr. Borda finds himself at the center of a growing blogging movement. Military bloggers, or "milbloggers" as they call themselves, contend that they are uniquely qualified to comment on events in armed conflicts. Many milbloggers also argue that the mainstream media tends to overplay negative stories and play down positive military developments. For many of these blogs, says Mr. Borda, "the sole purpose is to counteract the media."

[radar101]

Matthew Burden, an Army veteran, started his blog, "Blackfive," in December 2003 after he learned that an Army buddy, Maj. Mathew Schram, had been killed in an ambush near the Iraq-Syria border. Mr. Burden, 39, felt his friend received short shrift in media coverage and decided to blog about military stories he felt weren't getting the attention they deserved.................. "Does Abu Ghraib need to be told 40 times above the fold in the New York Times when half your readers couldn't name the guy who won the Medal of Honor?" Mr. Burden says.

[Drango]

a common enemy: journalists.

worth repeating.

a common enemy: journalists.

[Neoliberalnot]

Anybody with direct links to soldiers in the field recognizes journalistic fraud is rampant--in their small minds this is Vietnam II. Thanks for the post.

[austinaero]

I've always wondered what might happen once our brave soldiers come home and realize the media, and some of our politicians, have been acting as an undermining force to them. I hope more and more military get the idea and start speaking up about how they've been misrepresented.

[Talking_Mouse]

Not only speaking up, but running for office to replace said politicians who misrepresent them.

[radar101]

Now, they know instantly.
Most have access to the internet. The talented ones are " Blogging". They are mini-news sources.
Last year, the Military threatened them.
Others get email from home.
They know.

[George Smiley]

I've always wondered what might happen once our brave soldiers come home and realize the media, and some of our politicians, have been acting as an undermining force to them.

Belay those thoughts, as "fragging" went out of style at the same time leisure suits did.

[ELS]

bttt

[FreedomPoster]

Ping.

[Cannoneer No. 4]

My blog needs readers.

I'd probably get more if I wrote more often.