Media and Military Operations

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the argument supporting the media, which is based on the First Amendment, claims that the military is violating this amendment by prohibiting individuals in the media from gathering the news as the media sees it. The author explains that there are logistical problems because reporters on the battlefield have to be watched and kept safe. The paper relates that, when the country is not prepared for war, most of the reporters are pulled off of other assignments and sent to cover the war and do not have any understanding of how military operations actually work.

From the Paper:

"Another problem with the military and media relations, and a more recent one, is that the country is often not prepared for a war in the sense that there are reporters ready to cover it. Most of these reporters are pulled off of other assignments and sent to cover the war when they do not have any understanding of how military operations actually work. This causes many military officers to be forced to spend extra time answering questions that they normally would not have to answer to make sure that the media individual covering the story understood what they were actually talking about. On the flip side of this it is possible that many in the media may share in a public perception that much of the military is actually interested in promoting war (Lee, 2002). War time is often considered to be the best time for an officer in the United States military to advance in rank and the status and pay rates of these officers are based on their ranks. Some believe that these officers want to go to war so that they can improve their status and monetary gain (Lee, 2002). This is very likely untrue but it is a perception that has remained throughout the American public and the media for quite some time. Regardless of any of the ill will, however, the military and the media actually need each other. The media needs the military to give them access so that they can report the news and the military needs to give the media access so that they can see that the news that they have to provide to the American public is reported fairly and correctly."

More papers on Media and Military Operations:

• Analytical Essay # 147144 : "The Military vs. the Press"
• Research Paper # 75596 : "PSYOPS and War"
• Term Paper # 26800 : "The Changing Art of War"

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