Profile: Media Outlets Prepare to Cover Possible War With Iraq

Morning Edition: January 13, 2003

BOB EDWARDS, host:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Bob Edwards.

While the US is in the process of deploying thousands of troops to the Persian Gulf region, American news organizations are making plans for coverage of a possible war with Iraq. During the 1991 Gulf War, it was military policy to organize reporters into groups that were escorted by public information officers, and all stories were subject to what the military called a security review. Not all reporters adhered to the Pentagon's policy, and most agree they need as much access as possible to get the full story. The military often wants to limit that access. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports.

ELIZABETH BLAIR reporting:

In 1991, John Balzar covered the Gulf War for the Los Angeles Times where he's now a columnist. He was part of a pool of reporters assigned to an Army aviation brigade on the Saudi Arabia-Iraqi border. Part of the brigade was a squadron of Apache attack helicopters. The Apaches' effectiveness in the desert was uncertain. One night, the pilots invited Balzar into a tent to show him videos of a successful mission they'd carried out.

Mr. JOHN BALZAR (Los Angeles Times): These pilots were eager to show me just how effective it was. They were very graphic pictures of actual people being killed far off, very lethal weapon. They were quite proud of the work they were doing. They were saving American lives, allied lives, in advance of the ground war.

BLAIR: John Balzar wrote about what he saw on the tapes and about the Apache. His story was reviewed by the military's press headquarters and appeared the next morning, unchanged, in the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. BALZAR: And as you may recall, we didn't see any Iraqis dying for a long time in that war, or Americans didn't see them dying, and all of a sudden here was a story out about Americans killing Iraqis, and I guess it raised quite a fuss.

BLAIR: Balzar says from that point on, his life became unpleasant. He and the other reporters in his pool were grounded with almost no access to the front lines. Navy Captain Ron Wildermuth was the public information officer to General Schwarzkopf during the Gulf War, and he helped to write the military's media policy during the conflict. He says Balzar's piece should have been edited to remove any information that could have been valuable to the enemy.

Captain RON WILDERMUTH (US Navy): He gives specific numerical information about weapons systems capabilities and tactical deployment. I can see where that would be a violation of the ground rules.

BLAIR: Balzar's story demonstrates what some reporters say is attention within the military itself to both get out the news of their successes, while trying to maintain a high level of security. Ron Wildermuth admits it was difficult to accommodate the invasion of media personnel who possessed varying levels of experience covering a war. He says they called it Desert Swarm.

Capt. WILDERMUTH: We had talk show hosts, sports celebrities that were being given to the military as combat reporters. We could not accommodate 1,600 or 2,000 media to come to the commanders at their will any time they wanted to. One reason would be, of course, operational security, and the second is you approach a unit in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night, it's dangerous.

BLAIR: Still, many journalists believe too many restrictions were placed on the press during the Gulf War. John MacArthur, author of the "Second Front: Censorship and Propaganda in the Gulf War," blames the media for not fighting hard enough for unencumbered coverage.

Mr. JOHN MacARTHUR (Author): If you agree to the pool system, then you agree to be supervised by military officers. It's fundamentally different to go out in the field with a PR guy telling you what to do and where to go than just going out with a unit and keeping your head down and watching what happens.

BLAIR: The Pentagon has said if there's a war with Iraq, it will imbed reporters with combat units, meaning they'll travel with the units, see what they see and be allowed to report. It has also conducted a series of rigorous military training camps for hundreds of journalists. Eason Jordan, president of news gathering for CNN, says this signals a real change.

Mr. EASON JORDAN (CNN): I think there are good intentions there. I am not confident that everything's going to go perfectly. In fact, I'm confident everything will not go perfectly, but I am optimistic that things will go a whole lot better than they did in 1991.

BLAIR: While the Pentagon hasn't said how many reporters would be allowed to travel with combat units, a spokesman said it would be the greatest number that has ever been attempted for any type of military operation. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News, Washington.

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