An embedded civilian journalist taking photographs of US soldiers in Panama.

An embedded journalist is a news reporter who is attached to a military unit involved in an armed conflict. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United States military responded to pressure from the country's news media who were disappointed by the level of access granted during the 1991 Gulf War and in the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 531 pixelsFull resolution (3216 × 2136 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 531 pixelsFull resolution (3216 × 2136 pixel, file size: 1. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ... Media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq was different in certain ways from that of the 1990-1991 Gulf War. ... The armed forces of the United States of America consist of the United States Army United States Navy United States Air Force United States Marine Corps United States Coast Guard Note: The United States Coast Guard has both military and law enforcement functions. ... Year 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the 1991 Gregorian calendar). ... Combatants United States Saudi Arabia & US-led Coalition Republic of Iraq Commanders Norman Schwarzkopf Saddam Hussein Strength 883,863 360,000 Casualties 240 killed in action, 776 wounded in action, 30 taken prisoner Est. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Combatants Taliban al-Qaeda IMU Hezbi Islami Afghanistan Northern Alliance United Nations NATO ISAF Commanders Mohammed Omar Obaidullah Akhund # Dadullah  Jalaluddin Haqqani Osama bin Laden Ayman al-Zawahiri Mohammad Atef  Juma Namangani  Gulbuddin Hekmatyar Bismillah Khan Mohammed Fahim Abdul Rashid Dostum William J. Fallon Bantz J. Craddock Egon Ramms Dan...

At the start of the war in March of 2003, as many as 775 reporters and photographers were traveling as embedded journalists. ^[1] These reporters signed contracts with the military that limited what they were allowed to report on. ^[2] When asked why the military decided to embed journalists with the troops, Lt. Col. Rick Long of the U.S. Marine Corps replied, "Frankly, our job is to win the war. Part of that is information warfare. So we are going to attempt to dominate the information environment."^[3] Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent. ...

Gina Cavallaro, a reporter for the Army Times, said, "They’re [the journalists] relying more on the military to get them where they want to go, and as a result, the military is getting smarter about getting its own story told."^[4] Army Times is a weekly newspaper serving active, reserve and retired United States Army and National Guard personnel and their families, providing career-related news and information as well as community and lifestyle features, educational supplements, and resource guides. ...

As an illustration of the control exerted over embedded reporters, the U.S. Coalition Forces Land Component Command in Kuwait pulled the credentials of two embedded journalists from the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia, reportedly for publishing a picture of a bullet-ridden Humvee parked in a Kuwaiti camp. ^[4]

Some critics felt that the level of oversight was too strict and that embedded journalists would make reports that were too sympathetic to the American side of the war, leading to use of the alternate term "inbedded journalist" or "inbeds". Nonetheless, grainy video transmitted via satellite videophone became enduring images of the conflict. A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a mobile phone that communicates directly with orbiting communications satellites. ... It has been suggested that Visiophone be merged into this article or section. ...

Joint training for war correspondents started in November of 2002 in advance of the March 2003 start of the war in Iraq.

Fictional Embedded Journalists

David Jansen's character of George Beckwith was in The Green Berets a forerunner of the modern embedded journalist

References

External links

• "Independent Media In A Time Of War" -documentary by the Hudson Mohawk Independent Media Center
• "War reporters get battle training"
• "Flabby journalists sent to boot camp"