Imbedded Journalists

The embedding of journalists in Iraq has opened up many doors for the profession of journalism and for the United States military. Not only could the general public view the war from inside the battle, they witnessed the dirt raining on the troops as a rocket propelled grenade hits close to a battalions position and the soldiers wince as they are stung by a violent sandstorm. During the conflict, the United States military permitted news organizations to have a reporter travel with the ground troops in Iraq. This not only allowed reporters to record the battles from an up close and personal persepective, but it also allowed the public to see a the human side of the troops. Theoritically, this practice is an incredible opportunity for the military and the news organizations to mend their historically troubled relationship; however, in application it undermines everything that a journalist must do in order to accurately report the news, subjecting themselves to censorship and getting involved with a conflict. It is an ethics nightmare to think of all of the codes of the journalistic profession that are violated with this practice. Although it is better then the relationship between the press and the military has been for many years, it is still flawed and in desperate need of refinement.

During the Vietnam War, censorship was at a minimum. War correspondents

traveled freely through Vietnam, often with a military transport. The government was very much ruled by Richard Nixon's statement "The press is the enemy." Although Johnson repeatively tried to censor the press, "officials refused, and cited the impossibility of controlling a press corps of hundreds of people from multiple nations." However, the information that was handed out to the prtess was full of propaganda and were commonly referred

to as the "Five o clock Follies" by many journalists. Although the press had quite a bit of freedom in Vitnam, they still had agreements with the government having to do with battle coverage and positions. Such as not reporting battle information until after it had began, and most reporters repespected this practice. However, it was not mandatory; there were no contracts just an unspoken agreement. It was after the Tet Offensive, the operation that revealed that the United States was not winning the war, that the military began to severally limit the press in Vietnem. Increasing during Vietnam, the commreadery between repoers and the soldiers that were a hallmark during World War II and Korea was chipped away. Commanding officiers thought that reportser were trying to make them look like the bad guys and reporters assumed everything they were td was a lie.

Although the public did view the war in Vietnam first hand, the picture was black and white and the quality was poor. The news was also at least 24 hours old when the public received it since the tapes were shippied from Vietnam to the United States. This allowed for more editing then the instantainous news that the public is accustomed to today. The editors and the newworks had much more controlkover what reached the nightly news and what was censored out. Although the media was largely blamed for the attitude change toward the war in Vietnam,