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Newsmen and national defense: Is conflict inevitable?
Reviews
369
Newsmen and National Defense: Is Conflict Inevitable? Published under the auspices of the U.S. Army War College Foundation, Inc. Edited by Lloyd J. Matthews. Washington: Brassey’s (US), 1991. 146 p. $11.95 papercover. ISBN 0-08-041065-0. Reviewed
by Harold C. Relyea*
With the October, 1983, invasion of Grenada by American armed forces, a longstanding, cooperative working arrangement between two professional groups-the military and journalists-disintegrated. Conflict, anger, and distrust resulted. Analysis and repair were attempted with an August, 1984, assessment by Major General Winant Sidle; a May, 1985, Twentieth Century Fund report, Battle Lines; and Pentagon plans for a standby press pool to accompany U.S. armed forces at the outset of any surprise military operations. In the aftermath of the December, 1989, invasion of Panama by American troops, animosity between the military and journalists continued. An assessment was prepared for the Pentagon by its consultant, veteran reporter Fred S. Hoffman; reforms were offered and some were quickly implemented. Then came the January, 1991, commitment of U.S. armed forces to active warfare in the Persian Gulf. One of the volumes under review here asks in its title “is conflict inevitable” between newsmen and national defense professionals. History suggests that the answer is a negative one, but recent events clearly indicate that such conflict has persisted now for almost a decade. Surely American military leaders have a responsibility to engage effectively in battle with a minimal loss of life in their commands, and intensely competitive news media professionals surely have a responsibility to provide the American people with ready accounts and analysis of combat events involving the nation’s servicemen and interests. These volumes under review may prove to be useful in identifying the sources of conflict and ways to realize a more harmonious discharge of their responsibilities by both groups. American armed forces began attacking military targets in Iraq and Kuwait on January 16 of last year. They had been mobilized and dispatched to the Persian Gulf many weeks before, and pertinent U.S. press rules had been finalized in early January. Subsequently, on February 28, Iraq announced a cease-fire and agreed to a meeting of military commanders to arrange terms; four days later, Iraq accepted all of the allied terms and the first American troops returned home a few days later. A week before Iraq announced a cease-fire, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs held a public hearing on Pentagon rules governing press coverage of the Persian Gulf war. Among those testifying were Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Pete Williams, Major General Winant Sidle, Fred Hoffman, Walter Cronkite, and several other media figures. While the statements and discussion offered by these witnesses are interesting, the published hearing transcript has been supplemented with appendices of several hundred pages of primary documents, some of which are highly fugitive, The first appendix contains a detailed collection of U.S. government policies and rules governing media access to the war, including field command guidance and Pentagon correspondence, as well as historical documents ranging from World War II to the Panama invasion. A second appendix consists of published newspaper stories, magazine articles, and editorial and opinion pieces. Court documents relating to three lawsuits challenging U.S. government policies on media access to the Persian Gulf war-the Nation Magazine, Agence France-Presse, and J. B. Pictures cases-make up the third appendix. In all, it is a rich and useful collection of materials. Quick guidance on the Governmental Affairs documents may be found in The Media at War. The first product of the Research Group formed at the Gannett Foundation Media Center in 1990, this report, while objective, presents the news media viewpoint on war coverage. It examines the Gulf conflict in historical perspective, offers the survey views of 43 correspondents who covered the war, considers the impact of new information technologies used during the conflict,
370
GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
QUARTERLY
Vol. g/No. 311992
assesses the adequacy of news coverage of the war, and explores both press opinion and public opinion regarding media coverage of the Gulf hostilities. A final section offers conclusions and recommendations of the Research Group “as a stimulus for a national debate, which will engage media and military people, members of the government, private interests and, above all, the general citizenry.” The third volume, Newsmen and National Defense, is the product of a debate already begun. Eleven essays originally appearing in Parameters, the journal of the U.S. Army War College, have been collected by that publication’s editor and reproduced with a couple of supplemental letters. Cont~buto~ include journalists, milita~ historians, academics, a diplomat, and career military officers. While each of these authors might not agree about the ine~tability of conflict between journalists and military, the spirit of their debate was perhaps captured by Colonel Matthews in his preface to the book: “the knight and the newsman may never be able to dissolve entirely the gulf that separates them, but they should be able to maintain sufficient safe crossings to vindicate the Constitutional framers’ confidence that our right to defend ourselves could successfully coexist with our right to speak to ourselves.” * Harold C. Relyea is a Specialist in American Library
of Congress,
Washington,
National
Government,
Congressional
Research
Service,
D.C. 20540.
Secrecy & Government Bulletin. Issue No. 1, July 1991- . Prepared by Steven Aftergood. Washington, D.C.: Federation of American Scientists. Free sample copies available upon request. Reviewed
by Peter Hernon*
The newsletter is an occasional publication of the Project on Secrecy & Government, the Federation of American Scientists Fund. “Its primary objective is to promote reform of government practices involving secrecy” by raising “the public profile of the general problem of excessive government secrecy and” by promoting “solutions to this problem.” According to the Project Director, Steven Aftergood, the newsletter summarizes “current developments in secrecy policy as we perceive them along with our own research findings, with a particular emphasis on national security information and defense-related activities, which are of a general concern of the Federation of American Scientists.” The mailing list is composed of those individuals-reporters, academics, activists, and congressional staff-whom Project staff want “to influence, provide, or otherwise communicate.” As such, the information content is both interpretative and descriptive. Others wanting to subscribe to the newsletters are asked to make a $20 donation, Whether received gratis or for the modest donation, each issue of this two-page newsletter (8K x 14 inches) provides important announcements and developments, as well as capsulized information derived from congressional testimony and other sources. Information concerning the availability of these sources is often provided. In brief, this is an important source to know about and to browse. * Peter Hernon
is Professor,
Simmons
College, 300 The Fenway,
Boston,
Massachusetts
02115.
The Single European Market and the Information and Communication Technologies. By Gareth Locksley. Part of the series Studies in the Information Economy. London: Belhaven Press, 1990. 291 pages. LC 90-343. ISBN i-85293-101-9. $54.00.
369
Newsmen and National Defense: Is Conflict Inevitable? Published under the auspices of the U.S. Army War College Foundation, Inc. Edited by Lloyd J. Matthews. Washington: Brassey’s (US), 1991. 146 p. $11.95 papercover. ISBN 0-08-041065-0. Reviewed
by Harold C. Relyea*
With the October, 1983, invasion of Grenada by American armed forces, a longstanding, cooperative working arrangement between two professional groups-the military and journalists-disintegrated. Conflict, anger, and distrust resulted. Analysis and repair were attempted with an August, 1984, assessment by Major General Winant Sidle; a May, 1985, Twentieth Century Fund report, Battle Lines; and Pentagon plans for a standby press pool to accompany U.S. armed forces at the outset of any surprise military operations. In the aftermath of the December, 1989, invasion of Panama by American troops, animosity between the military and journalists continued. An assessment was prepared for the Pentagon by its consultant, veteran reporter Fred S. Hoffman; reforms were offered and some were quickly implemented. Then came the January, 1991, commitment of U.S. armed forces to active warfare in the Persian Gulf. One of the volumes under review here asks in its title “is conflict inevitable” between newsmen and national defense professionals. History suggests that the answer is a negative one, but recent events clearly indicate that such conflict has persisted now for almost a decade. Surely American military leaders have a responsibility to engage effectively in battle with a minimal loss of life in their commands, and intensely competitive news media professionals surely have a responsibility to provide the American people with ready accounts and analysis of combat events involving the nation’s servicemen and interests. These volumes under review may prove to be useful in identifying the sources of conflict and ways to realize a more harmonious discharge of their responsibilities by both groups. American armed forces began attacking military targets in Iraq and Kuwait on January 16 of last year. They had been mobilized and dispatched to the Persian Gulf many weeks before, and pertinent U.S. press rules had been finalized in early January. Subsequently, on February 28, Iraq announced a cease-fire and agreed to a meeting of military commanders to arrange terms; four days later, Iraq accepted all of the allied terms and the first American troops returned home a few days later. A week before Iraq announced a cease-fire, the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs held a public hearing on Pentagon rules governing press coverage of the Persian Gulf war. Among those testifying were Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs) Pete Williams, Major General Winant Sidle, Fred Hoffman, Walter Cronkite, and several other media figures. While the statements and discussion offered by these witnesses are interesting, the published hearing transcript has been supplemented with appendices of several hundred pages of primary documents, some of which are highly fugitive, The first appendix contains a detailed collection of U.S. government policies and rules governing media access to the war, including field command guidance and Pentagon correspondence, as well as historical documents ranging from World War II to the Panama invasion. A second appendix consists of published newspaper stories, magazine articles, and editorial and opinion pieces. Court documents relating to three lawsuits challenging U.S. government policies on media access to the Persian Gulf war-the Nation Magazine, Agence France-Presse, and J. B. Pictures cases-make up the third appendix. In all, it is a rich and useful collection of materials. Quick guidance on the Governmental Affairs documents may be found in The Media at War. The first product of the Research Group formed at the Gannett Foundation Media Center in 1990, this report, while objective, presents the news media viewpoint on war coverage. It examines the Gulf conflict in historical perspective, offers the survey views of 43 correspondents who covered the war, considers the impact of new information technologies used during the conflict,
370
GOVERNMENT
INFORMATION
QUARTERLY
Vol. g/No. 311992
assesses the adequacy of news coverage of the war, and explores both press opinion and public opinion regarding media coverage of the Gulf hostilities. A final section offers conclusions and recommendations of the Research Group “as a stimulus for a national debate, which will engage media and military people, members of the government, private interests and, above all, the general citizenry.” The third volume, Newsmen and National Defense, is the product of a debate already begun. Eleven essays originally appearing in Parameters, the journal of the U.S. Army War College, have been collected by that publication’s editor and reproduced with a couple of supplemental letters. Cont~buto~ include journalists, milita~ historians, academics, a diplomat, and career military officers. While each of these authors might not agree about the ine~tability of conflict between journalists and military, the spirit of their debate was perhaps captured by Colonel Matthews in his preface to the book: “the knight and the newsman may never be able to dissolve entirely the gulf that separates them, but they should be able to maintain sufficient safe crossings to vindicate the Constitutional framers’ confidence that our right to defend ourselves could successfully coexist with our right to speak to ourselves.” * Harold C. Relyea is a Specialist in American Library
of Congress,
Washington,
National
Government,
Congressional
Research
Service,
D.C. 20540.
Secrecy & Government Bulletin. Issue No. 1, July 1991- . Prepared by Steven Aftergood. Washington, D.C.: Federation of American Scientists. Free sample copies available upon request. Reviewed
by Peter Hernon*
The newsletter is an occasional publication of the Project on Secrecy & Government, the Federation of American Scientists Fund. “Its primary objective is to promote reform of government practices involving secrecy” by raising “the public profile of the general problem of excessive government secrecy and” by promoting “solutions to this problem.” According to the Project Director, Steven Aftergood, the newsletter summarizes “current developments in secrecy policy as we perceive them along with our own research findings, with a particular emphasis on national security information and defense-related activities, which are of a general concern of the Federation of American Scientists.” The mailing list is composed of those individuals-reporters, academics, activists, and congressional staff-whom Project staff want “to influence, provide, or otherwise communicate.” As such, the information content is both interpretative and descriptive. Others wanting to subscribe to the newsletters are asked to make a $20 donation, Whether received gratis or for the modest donation, each issue of this two-page newsletter (8K x 14 inches) provides important announcements and developments, as well as capsulized information derived from congressional testimony and other sources. Information concerning the availability of these sources is often provided. In brief, this is an important source to know about and to browse. * Peter Hernon
is Professor,
Simmons
College, 300 The Fenway,
Boston,
Massachusetts
02115.
The Single European Market and the Information and Communication Technologies. By Gareth Locksley. Part of the series Studies in the Information Economy. London: Belhaven Press, 1990. 291 pages. LC 90-343. ISBN i-85293-101-9. $54.00.