Types+of+Media+During+Conflict

 MEDIA DURING IRAQ WAR

The U.S. invasion of Iraq was without a doubt the most widely and closely reported war in military history. With all the new technology we have today how was it not possible to know what was going on. The US had cameras, photograhers, news reporters and most importantly journalist all on site of the war. At the start of the war as many as 775 reporters and photographers were volunteering to go as "embedded journalists" with U.S. forces, with many others taking their chances outside the Humvees. The availability of cheap, portable technology such as digital video cameras and teleconferencing equipment made coverage of this war ever more immediate and intimate, giving the impression that events were being recorded in real time exactly as they happened.

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For the media, access to the battlefield and to the troops was critical to telling the story of the war. Just as the media was gearing up to fight for this access, the Bush Administration and the military announced they would allow reporters to "embed" with soldiers in the field. More than 700 journalists signed up and were embedded during what turned out to be a three-week ground war. Media At War panel member Lt. Col. Rick Long, the former head of media relations for the U.S. Marine Corps, managed the media boot camp in Quantico, Virginia, which prepared journalists for their war assignments.

Why did the military decide to embed journalists with the troops? Long was candid.

"Frankly, our job is to win the war. Part of that is information warfare. So we are going to attempt to dominate the information environment." Embedding journalists honorably served that end, said Long.

Today's bold headlines on US military deaths in Iraq are revealing a ground truth that is, more swiftly, undercutting domestic support for the Iraq war.



Because of all the media coverage on the Iraq war people aross the nation were able to see the danger and horrific situations our military men were going through in that case there has been many organizations collecting suppliances and devices that our men may use to take care of there health as well as keep in touch with there family. Suppliances such as tooth brushes, tooth paste, razors, soap, old cell phones, batteries, ect. Also due to coverage there have been some polls that have shown that most Americans no longer believe removing Saddam Hussein was worth the loss of US lives; significant majorities now consider the 400-plus US casualties in Iraq "unacceptable."