-Caveat Lector- http://www.reason.com/re/current.shtml#3
The USA! USA! Network Rural America may soon get its news straight from the Pentagon, at least with regard to events in Afghanistan and Iraq. The military's express purpose will be to deliver unfiltered, happy news to outlets hungry for no-strings-attached video and camera-ready copy. The effort is being dubbed a "military public affairs project," which is a bit of propaganda for the propaganda. The Pentagon has decided that the average American gets a "slanted" picture of what is going on in the current battle-zones, evidently feeling that soldiers not killed are as newsworthy as those who are killed. There is also an apparent belief that focusing on the public works projects completed in both countries will translate into a better understanding of the conflicts. But by beginning with the premise that they must deliver "positive" news, the Pentagon undermines the credibility of its effort. For example, would a feel-good story about the graduation day of a new crop of Iraqi or Afghan army recruits be followed up by a report of any casualties the unit eventually sustains? If not, why not? Either the unit is newsworthy or it isn't. The same with U.S. National Guard units. There could conceivably be real value in the Pentagon filing stories on Guard units for the benefit of communities back home. But it cannot be all barbecues and school-supply round-ups. That would just deceive the folks back home with a different "slant." Or could that be the whole idea? -- http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=1675781 Iraq-Pentagon's News Pentagon to offer direct news service from Iraq and Afghanistan (Kuwait City, Kuwait -AP, Feb. 28, 2004 11:30 AM) _ The U.S. military will launch its own news service in Iraq and Afghanistan to send military video, text and photos directly to the Internet or news outlets. The $6.3 million project, expected to begin operating in April, is one of the largest military public affairs projects in recent memory, and is intend ed to allow small media outlets in the United States and elsewhere to bypass what the Pentagon views as an increasingly combative press corps. U.S. officials have complained that Iraq-based media focuses on catastrophic events like car bombs and soldiers' deaths, while giving short shrift to U.S. rebuilding efforts. The American public "currently gets a pretty slanted picture," said Army Capt. Randall Baucom, a spokesman for the Kuwait-based U.S.-led Coalition Land Forces Command. "We want them to get an opportunity to see the facts as they exist, instead of getting information from people who aren't on the scene." The project, called Digital Video and Imagery Distribution System or DVIDS, will also give the Pentagon more control of the coverage when calamities do happen. Army camera teams will be able to use their access to battle zones or military bases to film the aftermath of rebel attacks on U.S. troops _ or U.S. raids on insurgent targets _ then offer free pictures to news outlets within two hours. At times civilian media are kept away from such events. "We have an unfair advantage," Baucom said. "We're going to be able to get closer to the incident and provide better spokespeople to give the right information. The important thing is that we provide the public with accurate information." But media analysts argued that the military has a vested interest in making sure its viewpoint is heard. "The Army wants to get their view across and they are using a technique as old as any public relations maneuver ever devised," said Aly Colon, an ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, the journalism research and education center in St. Petersburg, Fla. "I would view the Army's decision, in the same way that I would view OPEC creating a communications system to help the American public understand what it means when prices go up," he said. "This is the kind of news that people get in countries where the government controls the media. Why would anybody here want to buy into it?" Mac McKerral, president of the Society of Professional Journalists, told The Associated Press. The Army is in the midst of contracting to outfit five Mobile Public Affairs Detachments with a suitcase-sized reporting kit containing digital video and still cameras, a laptop computer and a Norsat NewsLink 3200 satellite broadcast terminal. Four teams will be based in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Much of the effort is aimed at packaging and shipping locally focused stories to small and medium-sized newspapers and TV stations in the United States, said Army Col. Rick Thomas, who heads the effort. Most small U.S. media outlets can't afford to send a reporter to Iraq to cover a local military unit, Thomas said. Since the ongoing troop rotation involves several Army National Guard and Reserve units from communities across the United States, there are small media outlets who might never get news of their neighbors' work in Iraq. "The vast majority are dependent on other news organizations to get their products," Thomas said. "We think we can give them some more focused copy. We can shoot video of someone from, say, Tupelo, Miss., and they've got what looks like a very good hometown piece." The military brass was surprised and impressed with the speed and immediacy of the coverage of journalists embedded with U.S. combat units during the war, and wanted to develop the same capabilities, Thomas said. Television crews demonstrated their equipment for Army public affairs teams, and Thomas said his staff compiled a list of equipment needed to cover breaking news. The Army already has dozens of its own reporters in Iraq and Afghanistan writing for internal newsletters and magazines. Thomas said he hopes civilian media can reuse the same stories, or at least the Army's photos and video. The military's reporters will transmit their stories and video to servers at Third Army headquarters in Atlanta, and allow access to them over a password-protected Internet site, Baucom said. Accredited news organizations will be allowed to register for free access, he said. Thomas said the military also plans to use the equipment for internal video, such as beaming pictures from an aircraft's gun camera to a Pentagon briefing. The DVIDS units will also make it easier to get positive stories published, Thomas said. "There are numerous good news stories that aren't told that do provide a better balance on the overall successes we achieved in Iraq," he said. "We'll be able to provide the option for those types of stories. They're not going to lead in a major daily newspaper, but they'll play well in smaller daily papers and especially weekly papers." www.ctrl.org DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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