Hotel Warriors: The pools
To disseminate information to the media during the Gulf War, reporters were addressed by the military in groups. These groups or "pools" were filled with hundreds of reporters, and were totally dependant on information provided by the military. Most of these reporters wanted to get out in the field and report first hand, but there were only a limited number of spots. This resulted in infighting among reporters, each trying to get the scoop. As put by Fialka:
In essence, a pool means that all of the news products from the war be shared, but "beggar they neighbor" was often closer to the reality under which we operated.
This was exactly the envirement the military intended to create with the pool system. These conditions ensured that the news could be effectively managed by limiting access to sensative information, and steering "friendly" journalists to the limited pool positions.
posted by Anonymous at 3:14 PM
2 Comments:
Cleary keeping sensitive information from the enemy has been a priority for the military and the press in all of our wars. While censorship has been employed off and on, the Pentagon still relies on the professionalism of war correspondents to know the difference between military secrets and the facts that the public has a right to know. Both sides are open to criticism, but you will find few reporters who do not respect the right of the military to keep secrets to protect our troops and their mission. At the same time, we must beware the use of "operational security" as screen to hide the bad news of a failed strategy.
A good question.
Post a Comment
<< Home