Military Reporters Group Supports Media's Coverage of Iraqi Abuse

By: Joe Strupp Military Reporters and Editors -- the association of war correspondents and other military journalists -- is shooting back at those who have criticized newspapers for printing the Iraq prison abuse photos and other negative images of the Iraq War, claiming that such critiques are misguided and dangerous.

Their concerns followed the release of a new Fox News poll that reported 27% of respondents blamed the troubles in Iraq on the news media.

"Name-calling and finger-pointing isn't productive," said Dave Moniz, MRE president and a military writer for USA Today. "There is a difference between that and valid, constructive criticism."

Sig Christenson, MRE vice president and a veteran military reporter at the San Antonio (Texas) Express-News, agreed. "We are in real danger when people deny the truth," he said. "This is the same dynamic that went on in Nazi Germany."

He warned that the backlash has hurt the press' relationship with the Pentagon and the military branches, which he contends had improved through last year's embedding of journalists in Iraq. "We will be right back where we were after Vietnam; we will have a horrifically bad relationship," Christenson said about the press/Pentagon link. "Embedding broke the ice. People in the military realized that we are pretty decent people. That was a watershed moment."

Christenson, who has spent a pair of three-month tours in Iraq since the war began, said those who blame the Post and other newspapers for publishing photos -- instead of questioning the military's actions in Iraq -- risk crippling the press's power at a time when the nation is polarized. "People are filtering this through their political views," said Christenson. "People ought to be thinking about what is the truth."

Moniz and Christenson are not alone. Several MRE officers and veteran military writers said the backlash against journalists not only blocks the truth of the war, but makes true press coverage more difficult.

"There is clearly a certain frenzy to this," said Tom Bowman, military affairs reporter at The Sun in Baltimore, about the prison abuse coverage. "For some, particularly Republicans, it takes on a political edge. They see it as a political story instead of a news story."

Although Bowman stressed that most of the complaints he gets are from people angry at the military personnel committing the atrocities, enough "shoot the messenger" reactions have come in to cause concern. "I try to explain to them that it is a legitimate news story," said Bowman.

For Otto Reisher, an MRE board member who covers the military for Copley News Service, the reaction is reminiscent of the Vietnam War. "We were the enemy then when we covered anything negative," recalls Reisher, who served as a bombardier in the U.S. Navy from 1964 to 1965 before joining the Associated Press. "I think the backlash is stronger this time because it is an election year and the Republicans see the war as more of a bite on them."

Trista Talton, who covers the Camp Lejeune marine base near Wilmington, N.C., and other military affairs for the Wilmington Star-News, says the anti-media reaction is a concern. "It does bother me," said Talton, also an MRE board member. "People do not want to see that stuff. But when you think about the First Amendment, this is all part of that, and I don't know if people realize it."

Michael Getler, The Washington Post's ombudsman, also took pro-war media-bashers to task in a column Sunday stating, "readers who view the work of reporters covering [the war] for major U.S. news organizations as 'lefty spin' are fooling themselves."

As public backlash grows against the press for reporting the growing problems in Iraq, Christenson fears the growing trust between the military and the press will be ruined. "With people saying to us, 'you are losing the war,' before long, everything we built will be destroyed. But this war will not be won or lost on any story that is written," he added. "It will be on what happens in Iraq."