Pentagon Blacklisting?
Stars and Stripes reports that the Pentagon has terminated its contract with the outside firm that was putting together files of journalists seeking to cover the war in Afghanistan and vetting their stories as positive, negative or neutral. However, Jason Motlagh happened to see his own "profile," and has this account in TIME.com:
I recently applied to embed with U.S. Special Forces to cover a new initiative to raise and train civilian militias in Taliban strongholds. After waiting for more than a month for a response, I was accidentally copied on an e-mail sent by the public affairs department to the presiding officer who would give or deny approval. A color-coded pie chart showed that 47% of my stories were deemed "negative," 47% "neutral" and 6% "positive." In a section titled "Key Takeaway Points," it was mentioned that my stories have been lengthy, with plenty of context and sources. It was added, however, that, "most notably, he tends to quote experts" from a British think tank "which has been critical of the coalition mission and the Afghan government." A day after the e-mail — which included the Rendon analysis — was sent to the officer, my application was rejected without explanation.
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I wonder if any journalist will rethink this entire embed idea and their editors and managers will now have the guts to demand a little more independence for their reporters? Maybe ban together and write a strongly worded letter explaining how unacceptable this was.
I know its not a big issue as when Obama ditched the press to meet with Hillary or when McCain's staff threw a reporter off the plane. Still you would hope the press at some point would grow a spine about important issues. Nah, that will never happen.
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gunny seriously did I misunderstand something here -- are we really going to stand up in moral opposition to keeping the press at bay when the press no longer fulfills its watch dog duties? I mean really, isn't a bit much to expect the public to share in their moral indignation at not being able to perform stenography on a daily basis or to continue in their role as megaphone for propaganda, to the detriment of the ordinary citizen?
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Dee-Just for the record. Not all reporters are hacks or stenographers. While I personally wish we didn't need have to have reporters embeded with the military there really is no safer way to cover war zones with the military and stay alive.
Having said that. Editors should be deciding what reporters to send and to where. There are rules that address the Pentagon's policy toward the news media. DOD Directive 5122.05, explicitly states that “open and independent reporting shall be the principal means of coverage of U.S. military operations.” Elsewhere, it says, “journalists shall be provided access to all major military units” except when “special operations restrictions” intervene.
Most notably, it declares, “propaganda has no place in DoD public affairs programs.”
“A free flow of general and military information will be made available, without censorship or propaganda, to the men and women of the Armed Forces and their dependents,” the directive continues. “Information will not be classified or otherwise withheld to protect the Government from criticism or embarrassment.” I read “otherwise withheld” to encompass “access denied.”
The Multi–National Forces—Iraq rules for embedded journalists, contained in a document issued under authority of 5122.05, “recognize the inherent right of the media to cover combat operations and are in no way intended to prevent release of embarrassing, negative or derogatory information.” Reporters can be barred or expelled only for breaking the rules.
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What a disgusting, un-American practice.
And the Rendon Group, key fabricators of the Ahmad Chalabi myth, continue to receive government funding. I guess government contracting is like punditry-- a zero-accountability profession.
Thanks for highlighting this piece, Karen.
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i second that. Furthermore, im disgusted that joe klein won't even comment on that. Frankly im slowly becoming more and more liberal by the day. Being a moderate nowadays has got nothing to do with moderation.
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So in other words how dare the administration vet reporters based on their obvious ideological leanings, but blame them for not controlling the debate?
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You people are insane -- even you non-media critic Karen Tumulty. You defend the msm every chance you get against new media folks and yet claim not to be a media critic when its time to own up to the msm faults and inadequacies -- a euphemism for complete and utter dereliction of duty.
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How are they supposed to make sure every aspect of their communication efforts takes into account the immaturity, the laziness, and over dependence on right wing sources and be held accountable for not preventing the opposition from being able to capture the debate with lies and propaganda -- and then fault them for trying to weed out those journalists who clearly fall in the categories that make it hard to fulfil their communication duties as defined by the msm.. -
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which was also instrumental in forming the Iraqi National Congress, a CIA-funded opposition group that went on to provide the Bush administration with bogus information on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction that was the groundwork for the 2003 invasion.
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As I said the last time this subject came up, the primary mission of the US armed forces as currently formulated is to protect US interests by detering attack. It is not our business to start wars. If the US finds itself in a shooting war, that means the the US armed forces have failed in their mission to keep us safe. If the US military wants to invest in painting itself in a positive light, that is certainly admirable. If it wants to encourage recruitment, that is certainly within the notion of presenting a credible deterrent.If on the other hand, it wants to promote war as a desirable state of affairs and actually invest in encouraging it's own deployment, then our experiment in Constitutional Democracy can officially be declared a failure.
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The Federalist papers officially warned us of the danger. Human nature has not changed appreciably in the meantime. -
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Don't worry we still have Joe Klien to tell us who is not pro military enough (Greenwald?)
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Golly, where's Judith Miller when you need her?
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I don't get this Karen. It is ok to spin the garbage coming out of the White House for Obama, but the Military is not allowed?
Please tell me what the difference is?
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Please tell me that I'm not the only one that sees the hypocrisy here. Every day, in unison, the media fails to ever take responsibility for anything, whether it's their failure to inform the public or their own demise as a medium. Yet they hope to engender public outrage over a story that is only possible because of they failed to explore the role of any contractors fully over the last eight years.
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I'm sorry, but I just can't manage to throw flowers at KT's feet because she provides access, that's no better than what they do for their right wing sources. KT, the bottom line is that when we are discussing the failings of the media you say turn off the tee vee or you're not a media critic, yet now you want to lead the charge against practices that might hams string the continued efforts of stenographers, scorekeepers and megaphones -- let me know when you're ready to be the fourth estate again and I will join your moral outrage.-
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Dee - my impression is that the Pentagon has been selecting for stenographers and megaphones, and tossing away anyone who might commit journalism.
.47% of my stories were deemed "negative," 47% "neutral" and 6% "positive." In a section titled "Key Takeaway Points," it was mentioned that my stories have been lengthy, with plenty of context and sources.
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So despite the fact that this guy provides context and sources for his articles, he was denied access because he's not a stenographer.
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So my sense is that KT is right to call this out. -
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I'm sorry but you've missed the point. Perhaps if the media had lived up to their responsibility as the fourth estate instead of the score keeping stenographers they became they wouldn't be where they are now. Perhaps if the Pentagon could trust they would get objective reporting instead of media personalities bent on finding information they can use to support preconceived assumptions, add to media narrative, or fit into the latest echo chamber derived meme approved by corporate headquarters -- they wouldn't need to vet reporters. Have we all lost our minds and forgotten how the msm operates?
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Why is it because it comes from Karen and she responds to commenters? If the press were doing their jobs with even a modicum of integrity and I'll admit that there are a few, then I would be the first one to be upset that they don't have access. But the truthfully, in the universe I live in, I know there are few deserving of public support let alone our outrage. They want us to be upset that the government is impinging on our right to know, yet they do so every day with their false equivalencies, anonymous sources, and failure to report corporate influence, such as in the case of American for Prosperity that CNN continues to deliberately and falsely bill as grassroots opposition effort, despite its corporate funds.
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If I fight for their inclusion how will I benefit exactly? Will I learn something from their access? What do I learn from the access they have in other places -- what Paris Hilton had for breakfast or Cheney's latest lie? Give me a break -- the last time I was outraged by the failures of the press Karen told me it didn't matter, no one was listening and I should turn off the tee vee. So turn about is fair play. I say don't worry about it KT, it doesn't matter, just turn the page. -
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I agree with this:
They want us to be upset that the government is impinging on our right to know, yet they do so every day with their false equivalencies, anonymous sources, and failure to report corporate influence
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I do not agree with this:
Perhaps if the Pentagon could trust they would get objective reporting instead of media personalities bent on finding information they can use to support preconceived assumptions
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I think it's been shown that the Pentagon does NOT want objective reporting, and that is what me and others are irritated about.
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Rusty,
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Exactly who the h*ll implied that 'spin' was OK from ANY source? Must have missed that announcement . . .
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It SUCKS - period!!! Just give us the 'pros and cons' of a position and policy and let us decide.
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For the record - I bought my Acme BS detector with me when I retired and can say that both parties abuse the practice. -
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It is ok to spin the garbage coming out of the White House for Obama, but the Military is not allowed?
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Precisely.
Soldiers are not allowed to attend political rallies in Uniform for the same reason. Individual soldier may have and express their own political viewpoints like free citizens everywhere, but for the Pentagon itself to play favorites is inherently UnAmerican. They serve all of America, not just a select subset of cheerleaders.-
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And what should they do about members of the media who deliberately obfuscate the truth because they are trying to advance their own agenda, or are you saying that our current media is above that sort of thing? I mean it's not like we are not getting bad news about Afghanistan, so how negative do you to be to excluded. Could it be that this position from the media is self-serving. Or are you of the school that believes propaganda only exists on the right?
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We can't have it both ways. We can blame those being covered by the press for not anticipating and inoculating against the vagaries of the modern media and then ridicule them for using the only means at their disposal for trying to keep them most agenda focused personalities off their beat.
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[...] Posted in Daily life, Media, Military at 1:23 pm by LeisureGuy The Pentagon is heavy handed in its efforts to secure favorable coverage. Read this little note. [...]
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Thanks so much for covering this, KT.
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Not that this is shocking but it is nonetheless sad. Sad because it appears evident, at least from the face of it, that there is no real meritocracy utilized in making these important selections.
Still, it is good to know for a fact that in reporting for the Pentagon, “neutral” reporting does not cut it.
Great piece.
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Job Opportunity: Embed reporter. Experience Needed: portfolio of puff pieces about the military. Additional Requirements: must be willing to relocate to Afghanistan, get shot at.
This is really disgusting -- looks like the "Inside the Beltway" kiss-up SOP has been formalized & transferred to the battlefield. Thanks for the link.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
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We have "racial profiling". Now media: reporters' / journalists' profiling, positive-neutral-negative. Why not profile the American population and the world? The CIA can do it randomly!
- ktumulty i will be tweeting this 12/5. MT @susanpage #Gridiron Club sets rules for tweeting at 12/5 dinner speeches by Sarah #Palin & Barney Frank. - 1 hour ago
- ktumulty @LATimesrainey Could you get them to check for my earrings? I lost a pair of silver ones and have been hunting all over the house for them. - 1 day ago
- ktumulty @TeresaKopec @fishbowlDC thanks! am declaring my age to be the avg of mine and fellow bday girl jen psaki. - 1 day ago
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