Penatgon's Strategy for the Press.

I agree with the Pentagon's decision to censor the media during the Gulf War. In this reading the author talks about how the Pentagon censored the media during the war. The Pentagon controlled everything from which American units can be visited by reporters, how long a visit will last, which reporters can make the visit and what the reporters may say. What the television can show and what can be written. The Pentagon also looked closely at media coverage and made sure that the coverage was in the favor of what the Pentagon wanted. The Pentagon also black balled many reporters who asked hard, difficult questions concerning the war. Sometimes though the military spoke freely about themselves when feeling like it. The Pentagon felt most concerned about television coverage. "On camera" interviews were done because the military didn't like what was being portrayed. Other times the military staged events for the television cameras this was done to make sure the Pentagon got in what they wanted to get in. In the Gulf War the Pentagon put together the pool system. This was a system that grouped reporters in small bands or pools by the Pentagon and were sent around in guided tours specifically created by the Pentagon. The reporters that weren't in the pools were sought of left out in Saudi Arabia. They had relatively no knowledge of what was going on. The pool system was a good system for a short war but not a long one. Mainly because after a while the reporters would break away from the pools and venture out on their own. The pool system was put together to have some sort of control over the media and not allow another Vietnam from happening. Where the society held protest and anti-war rallies against the war.