Quote:
Originally posted by Lanny_MacDonald@Oct 29 2004, 03:53 PM
Hey bonehead, what part of "Man, whodathunk that a propaganda effort (the embedded troops) like that would come back to bite the administration in the keister???" did you miss?
Those tapes were viewed and cleared by sensors. To the military and the government they were not much of a threat. In fact they probably believed that they supported their cause. I bet they didn't think that something as innocent as this would come back to haunt them?
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Video of embedded reporters is cleared by censors? That's news. You better shout that from the rooftops.
Lets face it, you're caught again talking out of both sides of your mouth and hoping nobody notices.
Don't you see the irony. The embedded reporters are strictly controlled and now the video evidence comes out from that "controlled " source that turns the story against the adminstration.
Aside from a few minor incidents, there haven't been many or any embedded reporters post-Iraq that I'm aware of who've said they were restricted as to what they could film or say beyond pre-agreed rules about revealing positions, strength, etc. That's simply a matter of record.
Being allowed on site is another issue but once there they can do and say what they want. Whether or not what they say or see makes its way into newspapers or television news is another matter. An example of the internal debate at news organizations as the Iraq conflict was progressing:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationwor...,0,289975.story
An internal USA Marine examination of the merits of embeds indicated a "limited success" with the experiment and worried about what would have been reported if things hadn't gone well:
The media brings the spotlight to our stage for good and ill. What would have been the headlines if the Coalition lost a battalion of infantrymen in a chemical attack? What if there was more nationalistic spirit in the hearts of the people of Iraq and a majority of the population fought us block-by-block? This is evidenced by the "Chicken Little" reporting in the media when the Division and 3d ID paused in the attack up Highways 1, 8 and 9. Visions of Vietnam danced in reporters' heads. According to many pundits in the press we were bogged down, stopped cold by the Fedayeen. Nothing could have been further than the truth. The myth was quickly dispelled by our success against the Ba'ath Party and paramilitary fighters, but never forget how quickly the press jumped on the bandwagon of doom and gloom.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cf...=15&ItemID=4751
It's interesting that in this thread we have one reporter, Dana Lewis of NBC News, a Canadian no less, saying nothing was at the ammo site and a Minneapolic crew saying there was. An obvious contrast and debate.
Cowperson