http://thinkprogress.org/2008/05/18/study-finds-pentagon-benefited-from-us-media-embed-program-in-iraq/Writing in the American Sociological Association’s “Contexts” magazine, sociologist Andrew M. Lindner found that journalists embedded with American troops during the invasion of Iraq “emphasized military successes more often than they covered consequences for Iraqi citizens” which represented a “communications victory” for the Bush administration:
The embedded program proved to be a Pentagon victory because it kept reporters focused on the horrors facing the troops, not the horrors of the civilian war experience. <…> The end result: a communications victory for an administration that hoped to build support for the war by depicting it as a successful mission with limited cost.
http://contexts.org/articles/spring-2008/controlling-the-media-in-iraq/11In 2003, nearly 600 journalists working for news agencies from around the world traveled alongside U.S. and coalition forces as they invaded Iraq. The Pentagon’s embedded journalists program allowed reporters for the first time to attach themselves to military units. While Bush Administration officials hailed it for its intimate access to soldiers’ lives, media watchdogs criticized its often restrictive nature and publicly worried reporters would do little more than serve up rosy stories about soldiers’ courage and homesickness.
Critics also argued the embedding program was essential to the administration’s attempt to build popular support for the war in Iraq. Several influential members of the Pentagon leadership and the administration believed the media contributed to defeat in the Vietnam War by demoralizing the American public with coverage of atrocities and seemingly futile guerilla warfare. They hoped to avoid a similar result in Iraq by limiting journalists’ coverage of darker stories on combat, the deaths of Iraqi civilians, and property damage. As media commentator Marvin Kalb noted, the embedding program was “part of the massive, White House-run strategy to sell…the American mission in this war.”
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