'Stars and Stripes' Ombud Slams Military Over Embed Denial

Posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 12:00 am

By: Joe Strupp Ombudsman Mark Prendergast of Stars and Stripes weighed in today with a lengthy column defending reporter Heath Druzin and slamming Pentagon officials who have barred him from embedding with a U.S. Army unit in Mosul, Iraq.

The Pentagon confirmed earlier this week that Druzin had been denied an embed slot because he had not reported enough "good news" about the military activities in Iraq.

"According to both standard journalism practice and Defense Department policy, military commanders do not get to say which reporters get assigned where, whether they work for Stars and Stripes, The New York Times, MSNBC, the Huffington Post or the Podunk Gazette," Prendergast wrote. "Editors do."

The ombudsman's entire column can be found here.

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'Stars and Stripes' Ombud Slams Military Over Embed Denial

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