the government's control of the media during the current war is the greatest yet in our history if I'm not mistaken
Oh my, Ian, that's a doozy!
Not too long ago, I read
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry. Read it some time, Ian, you'll enjoy it. Anyhow, WWI was typical of the way wars were covered in the past. Information control was considered to be a vital part of the war effort.
In WWII, the U.S. suffered a humiliating defeat - long before D-day. Indeed, it happened on the shores of Great Britain, where they were practicing for the Normandy Invasion. Germans got wind of what they were doing, and sent some U boats over to sink a number of U.S. boats. And you know what? IT WAS KEPT FROM THE U.S. NEWS!! Why? It was felt that this would be a psychological blow to the significant war effort at home, where housewives were being recruited to run factories, build weapons, and help feed both the troops overseas and the kids at home.
Not today.
Everyone had to be "embedded" and led to the stories felt appropriate.
This imbedding of the press in the 3-week invasion was the most detailed press coverage ever of a war. Period.
Did the military send Hiraldo home for revealing troop locations? You bet your sweet ass they did. Did it ever occur to him that he put American lives in danger?
Various news services go out of the way to embarass certain politicians, the efforts of our soldiers, and the good will of many people overseas doing positive things in a difficult environment.
I get XM radio now, and have a number of different news services programmed. It's really interesting listening to or viewing a PRIMARY SOURCE on a news story, and then go from network to network and watch the spin. A classic example is Allawi's speech to Congress today. I heard the whole thing from beginning to end. Then I got to see what was reported (or not reported) on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, and the WSJ. It's nothing short of amazing, Ian. These news services have all the information they need to inform us concerning Iraq, and many of them don't. They do what they damn well please to suit their own end.
And then there is Al Jazeera....
Don't blame the government, Ian. Nobody's holding the news services back. On the contrary, a number of them are out to embarass the government by any means possible.
- Bill