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Freedom Of Press Or Danger To Troops?

Freedom of Press or Danger to Troops?

Steve Hess

Professor Olt
Communications I (ENG 102-ND)
20 March 2005

Steve Hess
Professor Olt
Communications I (ENG 102-ND)
20 March 2005
Freedom of Press or Danger to Troops?
The news has been an important source of information for as long as it has been around. News during a time of war is sometimes the only way a family member, friend, or general public have any idea what the soldiers are going through. Having this source of information can help rally support for our troops when they need all the support they can get. As reporters are granted more access to military operations the information they are provided, and have to report on, become a great responsibility and they should make sure to only make public what should be made public. Information is increasingly becoming the most important weapon in any militaries arsenal, so we should be more careful as to how that information is obtained and dispersed.
With respect to the war in Iraq and other military operations abroad I don't feel the press should be required to be given as much information or granted as much battlefield access as they have been. I am all for the freedom of the press and being informed as to what is happening to our troops, but to many times has information been distributed that could have had a negative impact on the outcome of an operation. One example is when Geraldo Rivera basically drew out in the sand on live television the position of the troops he was tagging along with. "Geraldo Rivera, reporting from Iraq for Fox News last week, drew a map in the sand, on camera, that gave away his unit's location" (Poniewozik 1). As he should have been, Geraldo was punished for that and told to leave Iraq and report from Kuwait. This was not the only example of this kind of reporting mistake made during that war.
Reporters often interview retired generals or other government officials to try and understand as much about the war...