A Four Part Series from TTBOOK!

Public Radio International

Wisconsin Public Radio

BONUS HOUR: COVERING THE WAR

Program 09-11-15-A

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At least 120 journalists have been killed in Iraq since the war began. They're targets for insurgents. But what are journalists to the US military? A necessary evil? Or weapons of war? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, How well have journalists covered the war. We'll hear from journalists embedded in Iraq. Can journalists accurately report on the very soldier or Marine who protects them?

SEGMENT 1:

Mike Hoyt is Executive Editor of the Columbia Journalism Review. He encouraged his staff to question embedded reporters about the embed system and the war. Their responses comprise the book "Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It." Hoyt reads excerpts and discusses them with Steve Paulson. Also, Brian Palmer has been a staff writer at Fortune magazine, Beijing bureau chief for US News and World Report and a correspondent for CNN. He tells Anne Strainchamps that none of that prepared him for Iraq where he was embedded with the First Battalion/Second Marines. He's made a documentary film about the experience. It's called "Full Disclosure," and we hear clips.

SEGMENT 2:

Errol Morris made a documentary about Abu Ghraib called "Standard Operating Procedure." Journalist Philip Gourevitch and Morris have written a companion book that examines what really happened at Abu Ghraib. Gourevitch talks with Steve Paulson, and we hear excerpts from the film. You will hear graphic descriptions of torture and humiliation during this piece. Also, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez served as Commander of Coalition Forces in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004, during which period the scandal at Abu Ghraib took place. Steve Paulson spoke with General Sanchez and asked him about Abu Ghraib. General Sanchez is the author of "Wiser in Battle: A Soldier's Story."

SEGMENT 3:

Film-maker Deborah Scranton gave cameras directly to troops on the ground, then spent months editing the footage they sent her. The result is a documentary called "The War Tapes." Scranton tells Jim Fleming how she persuaded the military to give her permission to make her film, what it was like working with the soldiers, and how they're reacted to the finished product.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 09-11-15-A.

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Books & CDs:

Lt. Gen. Richardo S. Sanchez, Wiser In Battle: A Soldier’s Story (Harper)
Mike Hoyt, John Palattella, and the staff of the Columbia Journalism Review, editors, Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered it (Melville House)
Philip Gourevitch and Errol Morris, Standard Operating Procedure (Penguin Press)

Websites:

• For more on Errol Morris’ documentary film Standard Operating Procedure: http://www.sonyclassics.com/standardoperatingprocedure/
  “Bad Voodoo’s War” (2008) directed by Deborah Scranton. Episode 4/1/08 of PBS’s Frontline.
  “The War Tapes” (2006) directed by Deborah Scranton. Distributed by Docudrama Films.
  
• Brian Palmer’s documentary film “Full Disclosure: A Reporter’s Journey Toward Truth in Iraq” is currently in the editing process. For more on Brian Palmer's experience embedded with the 22nd Marines visit his blog: http://bxpnyc.typepad.com/
  
• For blog and short videos from “The War Tapes” please go to: http://www.thewartapes.com/the_film/clips.shtml
  
• To read the US Military’s Ground rules for embeds: http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2003/d20030228pag.pdf
  
• When the war started (March 20. 2003) there were 770 embedded journalists in Iraq. To see a map of the journalists embedded on June 3, 2008, click HERE
  

Music:

• Kid A/Radiohead/Kid A/EMI
  
• Naked (stems)/Radiohead/Radiohead web release
  
• Treefingers/Radiohead/Kid A/EMI
  
• Slow Jam/Four Tet/Rounds/Domino Records
  

• Original theme music for “Boots on the Ground: Stories from the War in Iraq” was written by Steve Mullen at Walk West Productions. http://walkwestworld.com

Distribution dates: week of 11/15/2009 - hour 1 click HERE for timings and cues

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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