An Absolutely Disgraceful Performance (On being an embed in Iraq)

Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, September 17, 2003 | JOHN F. BURNS

[presidio9]

The following is an excerpt from John F. Burns's contribution to the book "Embedded: The Media at War in Iraq," published this week by The Lyons Press. Mr. Burns is a correspondent for the New York Times.

From the point of view of my being in Baghdad, I had more authority than anybody else. Without contest, I was the most closely watched and unfavored of all the correspondents there because of what I wrote about terror whilst Saddam Hussein was still in power.

[Incorrigible]

Please then Mr. Burns, tell the truth about the New York Times.

[Cicero]

A decent journalist like Burns probably feels some obligation to stick with his colleagues. For that reasons, he names no names here, with the egregious exception of CNN, which named itself in that notorious OpEd piece.

But, as he points out, leftist journalist feel no compunction about ratting on their colleagues to a brutal totalitarian state. It's another case of the left thinking that the rules just don't apply to them because their hearts are pure.

[bybybill]

The media shapes the news instead of reporting it. With the internet and talk radio plus Fox, that`s not so easy any more.

[Sunshine Sister]

Very powerful indictment of the so called press.

[Sunshine Sister]

Very powerful indictment of the so called press.

[Jalapeno]

and talk radio plus Fox

It would be wise not to trust any media sources, I suspect there is plenety of 'news' shaped at Fox, we just are more inclined here to like the way it is shaped.

In my opinion, news is fact, and there has long been more of a trend to report less fact and more opinion from all outlets on just about everything.

[lugsoul]

How dare you lump the beloved Fox News Channel into the category of media that shape the news!!! Don't you agree that the Scott Peterson case is of crucial importance to us all? Don't we all have a right to know the facts about Kobe's night in Vail?

[clintonh8r]

Yeah, and what about Fat Rita and Gary Condit's flight attendant? Now, there was news with legs!

[Trailerpark Badass]

The media shapes the news instead of reporting it. With the internet and talk radio plus Fox, that`s not so easy any more.

Indeed, now that the media sees its roles as analysis and interpretation, instead of straight reportage of facts.This is why the term "journalist" is preferred over "reporter." This is what is taught in the Journo schools and is what feeds their little egos.

[presidio9]

And don't forget that sober journalist Bill O'Reilley had the courage to bring Jenna Jameson on to his show not once, but twice during the lead-up to the war in Iraq.

[x1stcav]

How does this article have anything to do with embeds?

I think they're owed an apolgy. Did I miss something?

[TopQuark]

It's not impossible to tell the truth.

Newspapers and TV News are not in the news business: they sell sentiment, not information.