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CHALLENGES
The Press
and the Pentagon
BY
MICHAEL GETLER
News
organizations are facing one of their most crucial responsibilities
in a democracy -- covering the nation at war. As in the past,
the needs of the military and the press will sometimes be in conflict.
Some points to keep in mind:
* Reporting a war requires a degree of cooperation from the military.
Since Grenada in 1983, Panama in 1989, and the Persian Gulf war
in 1990-91, successive administrations have reduced the access
of reporters to the battle zones, and placed an increasing set
of obstacles in the path of timely, independent reporting.
* If anything, the current administration seems likely to be even
tougher. Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell
were partly responsible for the tough restrictions imposed during
the gulf war. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seems committed
to controlling information, and White House spokesman Ari Fleischer
has already warned people to watch what they say.
* Useful and important Defense Department guidelines were put
into effect in 1992 as a result of press complaints about gulf
war restrictions. These ought not be discarded simply because
we are facing a different kind of warfare. The government's objective
in the gulf was to have the daily briefings in Washington and
Saudi Arabia totally dominate the way the war was reported. Other
restrictions on those actually covering the battlefront had the
effect of delaying most reporting from the field until well after
the briefings were over.
* American journalists have shown themselves to be highly responsible
in adhering to sensible guidelines with respect to real operational
security. There were thousands of correspondents in Vietnam and
the Persian Gulf, and there were essentially no violations of
military security. News organizations, in seeking comment from
government officials about other sensitive stories, have on numerous
occasions held back information when requested by an administration.
* In the current strife, news organizations need to have reporters
with all sizeable military units -- aircraft carriers, Air Force
squadrons, Saudi-based U.S. units, regular Army units, and some
form of access to special forces troops.
* The press will always find ways to cover the story. If the military
seriously restricts coverage, reporters will find other sources
and other ways to cover the war, as they should. The public's
best interests are served by an enlightened relationship between
the military and the media, when both sides make an honest stab
at solving some of the problems that naturally arise in a way
that does not interfere with military operations and security,
but allows an independent account of America at war to be recorded.
Michael
Getler, former editor of the International
Herald Tribune,
is ombudsman for
The Washington Post.
This is adapted from remarks he made at an October 2 Columbia
School of Journalism panel on the war and free speech.
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