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 A Five Part Series from TTBOOK! |
THE EMBED
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Program 08-06-15-A |
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When the war in Iraq started over 770 journalists went with Coalition troops. 5 years later there are fewer than 20. What happened? In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the embed system. How can journalists accurately report on the very soldiers who protect them? Has the US military made the journalist a weapon of war?
SEGMENT 1:
Mike Hoyt is Executive Editor of the Columbia Journalism Review. He edited the book "Reporting Iraq: An Oral History of the War by the Journalists Who Covered It." He talks with Steve Paulson about an e-mail by a Wall Street Journal correspondent that created a furor within the journalistic community about the role and responsibility of embedded reporters.
SEGMENT 2:
Brian Palmer is a veteran journalist and foreign correspondent. He embedded with the First Battalion/Second Marines three times between 2004 and 2006. He's now made a documentary film called "Full Disclosure," about the experience. He tells Anne Strainchamps that too much embedded reportage becomes cheerleading for new weapons systems; and that he still doesn't know how to strike the right balance between photographing the truth of war and respecting the families of the fallen. Also, Col. David Lapan is Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Marine Corps and one of the architect's of the Department of Defense's Embedded Media Program. He tells Jim Fleming how the program evolved and why the Pentagon thinks that overall, it has been a success.
SEGMENT 3:
Deborah Scranton gives cameras directly to soldiers, She edits their footage over the internet. Her documentary "The War Tapes" was nominated for an Academy Award." Now she has completed "Bad Voodoo's War," focusing on Sgt. Toby Nunn of the New Hampshire National Guard. She talks with Steve Paulson and we hear intensely powerful clips from the film.
CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 08-06-15-A.
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Books:
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) |
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When the war started there were 770 embedded journalists in Iraq. To see a map of the journalists embedded as of June 3, 2008, click HERE
Films:
- “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.
Websites:
- For more on Brian Palmer's experience embedded with the 22nd Marines visit his blog: http://bxpnyc.typepad.com/
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For shorts videos of the men of the Bad Voodoo Platoon visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/badvoodoo/video/
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For the blog of Bad Voodoo’s Toby Nunn: http://tobynunn.net/joomla/index.php?view=article&catid=1%3Alatest-article&id=55%3Alittle-savages&option=com_content&Itemid=54
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For blog and short videos from “The War Tapes” please go to: http://www.thewartapes.com/the_film/clips.shtml
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For a very powerful animated blog story from Iraq and blog by Colby Buzzell: http://cbftw.blogspot.com/2004/08/men-in-black.html
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Some other Milblog sites:
http://www.milblogging.com/
http://gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/
http://www.blackfive.net/ - To read the US Military’s Ground rules
for embeds:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2003/d20030228pag.pdf
Music:
- All selections from "Kiss me, Kiss me, Kiss me"
with The Cure (Elektra)
The Snakepit, The Kiss, Like Cockatoos, If Only Tonight We Could Sleep
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Distribution dates: week of 06/15/2008
- hour 1 |
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