Don't you love freedom of the press?

[Spinaroonie]

http://www.gulufuture.com/news/kate_adie030310.htm

The Pentagon has threatened to fire on the satellite uplink positions of independent journalists in Iraq, according to veteran BBC war correspondent, Kate Adie. In an interview with Irish radio, Ms. Adie said that questioned about the consequences of such potentially fatal actions, a senior Pentagon officer had said: "Who cares.. ..They've been warned."

According to Ms. Adie, who twelve years ago covered the last Gulf War, the Pentagon attitude is: "entirely hostile to the the free spread of information."

Another link: http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=8238

 

[Azwed]

Spin it is only freedom of our press come on now get it right no other countries have any rights.

 

[Spinaroonie]

Spin it is only freedom of our press come on now get it right no other countries have any rights.

THE INFIDELS MUST DIE.

 

[RosevilleCAguy]

I remeber when they went into Somalia. The press showed up and spotlighted the Nave Seals who were coming out of the water at 4 a.m.

Destroyed their night vision.

Made them targets for snipers.

Pretty much gave them up.

The seals were pissed. I'm surprised that they didn't just machine gun the cameras.

At the front lines, the military sets the rules.

 

[The Heretic]

At the front lines, the military sets the rules.

To a certain degree I have to agree; if the press is giving out live information, or otherwise endangering our servicemen as in this alledged example, then they are quite possibly aiding the enemy.

I am all for freedom of the press, but please bear in mind that the "press" in this case is more concerned about ratings and entertainment value than getting needed information to the populace.

I am of a divided mind on this issue; on the one hand I hate restrictions on the press, on the other hand often the press is irresponsible in its quest to scoop the opposition and get ratings. Don't fool yourself into thinking that the press is doing this out of some altruistic motive to educate the public - they are doing it to entertain the public, drive up their ratings, scoop the other news guys and ultimately it is all about money and to some degree professional prestige. The press doesn't care about getting information to the public; the press will (and has) made up news, will spin news to make it more sensational, will leave out objective analysis/facts because most of their audience find it boring and it takes too much effort and time.

So, in this limited case I think the news crews ought to stay out of combat zones, especially behind enemy lines, and show some responsibility for once.

Please bear in mind the situation that happened during Desert Storm; we went in and wiped out the retreating Iraqi army - and this was a valid thing to do. But the press goes in and starts calling it the "Highway of Death" and sensationalizing it. The Bush (sr.) admin was so concerned about that coverage and about how good it would sound to have the "100 hour war" that they cut the war short before we had accomplished our objectives - something like half to two-thirds of the hard-core Iraqi army got away because of that - and now we are going to be fighting that same army.

If the press would just stick to reporting the facts, instead of sensationalizing them for entertainment value, I would hold them in much higher regard - as it is I have to choose between the sensational lies told by the press for the sake of ratings, and the spinned lies told to me by my government for the sake of staying in power. Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, and I am stuck here in the middle with you.