Berkeley CSUA MOTD:Entry 37895
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2025/07/09 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
7/9     

2005/5/31-6/1 [Politics/Foreign/MiddleEast/Iraq] UID:37895 Activity:nil
5/30    http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring03/Zentz/history%20page.htm
        http://saugus.byu.edu/writing/contest/fall2002/ethical_journalism.html
        "Media coverage of Vietnam was a rare exception in the history of
        combat coverage by the American media. Never before had the press
        been granted such access to the war zone. And never again would
        they. That war served as a lesson to the government and a pinnacle
        of freedom for the media"
        \_ I think that's because the US wasn't technically at war, unlike,
           say, during WWII.
           \_ that is technality.  I personally find it alarming to allow
              President to initiate an arm conflict in a massive scale without
              declaration of war.
2025/07/09 [General] UID:1000 Activity:popular
7/9     

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iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring03/Zentz/history%20page.htm
The recent war in Iraq and the ongoing war on terroris m have brought the freedom of the press to the forefront of political co nversation across the country. The question of general debate is whether or not the press should be give n unlimited access to the front lines, or submit to government restricti ons for the sake of our military's security. Behind that question often lies another, more intriguing one. Is military security really the reaso n they don't want the press on the front lines? While media war coverage is, to some extent, as old as this country, the debate, as a matter of public concern, is relatively young. The pivotal point in the public's awareness of this issue, as well as many of their suspicions toward military actions, is the Vietnam War. Media coverage of Vietnam was a rare exception in the history of combat c overage by the American media. Never before had the press been granted s uch access to the war zone. That war served as a lesson to the government and a pinnacle of freedom for the media. I n every war or military engagement since, the media have publicly battle d the Pentagon for the right to report the war as they see it. Vietnam taught the government that they had made a grave public relations error by allowing the press to get so close to the action. This was the first time that images of the horrors of war had made it back to the pu blic in mass quantities. The fact that the war was being fought with gue rilla tactics did not help the matter either, as it provided photographe rs with plenty of gruesome images to send to their publishers. One of th e results of this was that the government was faced with domestic unrest as had never been seen before. From this mistake, they learned to retur n to their old ways, restricting media access to the war zone whenever t hey could find a reason and censoring the media's material before allowi ng them to send it home. Prior to Vietnam, it had been understood that the media could not publish certain material regarding military actions. Up through the Korean War, it has been noted as well, few journalists made an effort to criticize our military or our government's involvement in foreign issues. The media still wanted the same l evel of access, of course, but the government now knew better. The Pentagon took these practices to their breaking point in 1991, during the Gulf War. Using a system established in 1983, they restricted press access by forcing the reporters to travel in small pools consisting of reporters, photographers and a small television crew. They reportedly to ld the cameramen when and where to shoot and checked their images for un desirable content before allowing them to ship it home. Lone reporters a nd photographers who did not wish to submit to these restrictions were h unted down and often imprisoned. Some rogue information managed to make it past the military, however, inc luding reports that as the US was withdrawing from Iraq, the military carpet bombed a highway full of cars that has since come to be known as the "Highway of Death." Graphic images appeared that raised suspicions t hat the military was using illegal warfare tactics. In 1992, members of four major media companies met with representatives f rom the pentagon to lay out a policy for future coverage. What they esse ntially came up with was what everyone has come to know today as "embedd ed" journalism. Using this system, journalists would be assigned to trav el along with troops into the combat zones. However, free press advocates today argue that the embedded journalists a re still not allowed to report the truth. This looked to be the truth at the start of the latest war in Iraq. However, as the war briefly climax ed in Baghdad, the restrictions seemed to cease as an increase in graphi c photographs began appearing in America's magazines and newspapers. The rest of this site provides links to online source material on this to pic. Whether you are doing research or just interested in learning more about the issue, the sites should provide you with useful information.
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saugus.byu.edu/writing/contest/fall2002/ethical_journalism.html
Third Place Informative Research Paper Ethical Journalism During the Vietnam War by: Daniel Evensen During the Vietnam War, a rift between government officials and journalis ts emerged. The American government felt the need, for various reasons, to censor many war developments. In an attempt to act ethically, the pre ss fought the censors, trying their hardest to report the truth to the g eneral public. Despite claims of bias and distortion by several prominen t government officials, these journalists acted completely ethically, al lowing the general public to obtain a fair, informed opinion. The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) provides a very clear and t horough Code of Ethics, which serves as a good definition of ethical jou rnalism. According to this code, an ethical journalist must try to minim ize any potential harm done to people directly involved with the event b eing reported. Such a journalist should also act independently of any pe rsonal biases, and be responsive to any criticism of their work. Finally , a truly ethical journalist must seek to find and report the truth (Soc iety). When one thinks of ethic al behavior, one usually thinks along terms of being truthful, appreciat ive of others, acting responsively and using fair judgement. All of thes e concepts are explicitly stated in the SPJ's Code of Ethics. Minimizing harm done by journalism in times of war is a difficult task. N aturally, there are bits of information that the government needs to kee p secret for one reason or another. There is also the danger of victims' stories being exploited and sensationalized. The SPJ's Code of Ethics r ecommends that journalists should "treat sources, subjects and colleague s as human beings worthy of respect" (Society). During the extremely con troversial Tet Offensive of 1968, the ethicality of journalists in this regard was put to the test. Researcher Clarence Wyatt described this inc ident vividly. The South Vietnamese had captured and beaten a prisoner. In front of several reporters, Brigadier General Nguyen Loan, who was ch ief of the National Police, shot and killed the prisoner at point blank range without saying a word. Unbeknownst to Loan, there were cameras rol ling as he executed the prisoner. Eddie Adams, a photographer from the A ssociated Press, took a picture that would later prove to be one of the most memorable images from the war. As if that was not enough, Vo Suu, c ameraman for NBC correspondent Howard Tuckner, shot film of the incident . The photo and the film would dramatically shock the general public (Wy att 165-167). By reporting this simple event without sensationalizing anything, Adams a nd Suu gave a classic demonstration of the ethical nature of American Jo urnalism. As Wyatt states, The photograph and film speak of the presence and characteristics of Ame rican journalism. Adams, Tuckner, and Suu were skilled reporters with a n instinct for the dramatic incident. The pictures they shot that day w ere valued examples of that sort of reporting. North shield hailed the film as "an important and powerful statement of the r eality of war" (166-167). Clearly, this was an example of ethical, mindful journalism. As a result the public was better informed of the reality and emotional issues of wa r They were better able to form an opinion on Vietnam. Considering the political turmoil of the late 1960's, unbiased coverage o f important political events was essential. During the famous riots at t he 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, police in riot gear attacked s everal members of the press. As the New York Times reported, "newsmen fo und themselves special targets of the police action" (Lukas 1). Had thes e reporters claimed to be victims and acted defensively, the end result would be a severely biased stance. Instead the New York Times' lead edit orial two days later read "when clergymen, young women and reporters . it is the cause of law and order and freedom and democracy" (Mayor Daley's Ci ty 32). Rather than writing about the violence and misbehavior in general terms, the New Yor k Times editor took the issue one step further, putting it in the contex t of liberty and democracy. These two examples show that the press presented the war to the public wi thout bias for two specific situations. Colonel Henry G Gole, who served in Vietnam, believes so. There ar e many critics of Vietnam War coverage who claim that it biased public o pinion against the American cause. Mr Gole disproves such arguments by showing that the quick change in public opinion in 1968 was due more to a shattered false sense of security instilled by government control of n ews than by actual journalists coverage of the war. The leadership tried to present an inaccurate summary of what was going on in Vietnam, and w hen things weren't going as well as they said, the public became angry. As he puts it, "happy news was reported, and unhappy news was suppressed . The American public had every reason to believe that all was going wel l in 1968 when the bottom seemed to fall out. Leadership, not the media, had failed to prepare the nation" (Gole 151). So, if the American leadership, not the journalists, facilitated the change in opinion, one would naturally conclude that those journalists did not present the war in a biased manner. Spiro Agnew, Vice President under President Nixon, disagreed. In a biting speech on November 13 1969, he directly attacked television's coverage of current events. Referring to coverage of a recent speech by Nixon, Ag new claimed that "a small band of network commentators and self-appointe d analysts, the majority of whom expressed in one way or another their h ostility to what he said" biased their coverage to an audience of millio ns (Mid-West Regional Republican Committee). One week later, Agnew gave another speech, this time specifically attacking the New York Times. His concern was that the Times chose not to give events that he considered important the coverage that they deserved (Montgomery Chamber of Commerc e). The New York Times gave a fair and impartial analysis of both speeches at once. Among the many editorials and opinion pieces, the Times ran an im partial study on TV News written by Herbert Gans, an MIT sociology profe ssor with no prior connections to the Times, just over a month after Agn ew's second speech. Among Gans' many findings was that "the audience pla ys an infinitely greater role" than the opinions of journalists on what was covered. Apparent biases in the way that television covered the news were merely extensions of what the public generally believed (Gans 224) . Since The New York Times acknowledged these criticisms and responded t o them with an impartial source, it's editors acted in an ethical manner . The central point of the SPJ Code of Ethics is that journalists should se ek to find and report the truth. Finding and reporting the truth was dif ficult because the government tried to censor the war. Addressing this c ensorship policy specifically, Clarance Wyatt traces a policy of "divers ion and deception" from President Johnson, who attempted to downplay maj or war developments, through the end of President Nixon's involvement in the war. In attempts to only let the public hear what they were told, t he government attempted to withhold important pieces of news (Wyatt 168- 215). Despite this censorship, there were many reporters who attempted to repor t the war without bias. Edwin Emery noted the coverage of the war by Har rison Salisbury (of the New York Times) during December 1966. As Emery s tates, "Salisbury's series of stories, filled with detailed observations , directly contradicted much of the claimed success of the US bombing pr ogram." Emery then goes on to note that Salisbury "was denied a Pulitzer Prize . for what most newsmen conceded was the outstanding news bea t of 1966" (622-623). Emery goes on to list journalists such as Peter Arnett of the Associated Press, Ward Just of the Washington Post, R W Apple Jr. of the New York Times, Robert S haplen of the New Yorker, and Denis Warner of the Reporter, each of whom provided a view of Vietnam that was not j...