Embedded journalists limited in access, perspective

With the US public fixated on the latest tidbits of information out of Iraq, some experts including those at Tufts are questioning the reporting and its objectivity by so-called "embedded" journalists.

One of the main issues surrounding the coverage of the war in Iraq has been the embedded journalists themselves, who are able to travel with coalition military units in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region. However, while this tactic gives journalists more access than they have had in the past, it does not necessarily allow for better coverage.

The coverage embedded journalists have provided is like "looking through a soda straw -- there is plenty of information, but it only allows us to see a narrow slice of the war," said Boston Globe media analyst and former Tufts professor Mark Jurkowitz.

Another common criticism is that American war coverage is biased -- due to the restrictions imposed on the embedded journalists in terms of what they can and cannot report. A very "American-centric" view of the war is presented, Jurkowitz said, but the embedded journalists have, in some respects, provided "good reporting."

Embedded media are important, he said, because "this is the first time in a long time that the media has been allowed in battle zones. They certainly weren't in the first Gulf War or Afghanistan."

Despite the one-sided coverage inherent in the lack of complete access, this type of journalism is useful because it gives us a "fly on the wall perspective" of the war, sociology professor Henry Rubin said.

Rubin, who teaches Introduction to Mass Media, has asked his students to be aware of international media in addition to US coverage in order to get the "whole story." News organizations in other countries naturally give different perspectives of the war, he said. For example, Arabic-language news programs consider the war an "invasion, uncalled for aggression, and a breach of democratic international relations," Rubin said.

Most US coverage of the war does not dwell on all aspects, such as how the Arab world feels, Jurkowitz said, although other perspectives are available to Americans if they are willing to look for them. "The whole story is available to Americans who want to find it," he said.

According to Rubin, for media in other countries, including those in Europe, war is not the only news. The US is "saturated with war news," Rubin said, and even though Apr. 15 is tax day, there has been little to no mention of President Bush's new tax plan in the news.

When other countries do cover the war, Jurkowitz said, they focus more on the damage and civilian casualties of the war, while the US emphasis is different. "We have seen a war of triumph," he said.

He cited the example of the recent rescue of seven American prisoners of war. While it was almost certainly not the biggest event in the war last week, it nevertheless dominated the news all weekend, he said.

Television proves particularly troublesome for finding complete and objective news, Rubin said. "Televised war takes away the impact of actual death and destruction and makes it seem like a video game," he said.

Tufts students said they are aware of the difficulties faced by embedded journalists and the trouble with relying solely on their accounts for news. Freshman Julia Wolfson called media coverage of the war "over-sensationalized." She was bothered by a story she saw in which the US alleged that the Iraqi government was manipulating news media in Iraq because, she said, "we do that too."