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ãHedgeä Hogs and Oxymoron's In Iraq

By Dean Rotbart


Tuesday, April 8, 2003 -- Last nightâs televised war coverage from inside Baghdad was possibly riveting.

 

Leading the news were unconfirmed reports that the United States may have killed Saddam Hussein and his two sons in an alleged attack on a residential building where the dictator was supposedly spotted entering, but where it isnât clear if he remained inside or escaped through the labyrinth of underground bunkers and tunnels that are said to exist throughout Iraq. 

 

Of course, I wasnât able to view every minute of coverage on every news channel, but reliable sources tell me that there is a great likelihood that what I did witness was typical of coverage throughout the night.  Perhaps Iâll learn more at the next Centcom briefing, which rumor has it will take place soon.

 

Please note, as CNN.com does at the bottom of its web stories, that my column is ãwritten in accordance with Pentagon ground rules allowing so-called embedded reporting, in which journalists join deployed troops.  Among the rules accepted by all participating news organizations is an agreement not to disclose sensitive operational details.ä

 

Am I the only one who it strikes as ironic that the American news media and war correspondents are willing to face the prospects of chemical weapons, suicide bombers, rocket-propelled grenades, land mines, small arms fire, heat, exhaustion and camelâs breath, yet they donât have the backbone to risk directly reporting that ãSaddam Hussein and his two sons may have been killed in a U.S. assault this afternoon.ä

 

All this journalistic hedging is not only overkill, it is chicken manure.  In an effort to cover their exposed hinnies, the broadcast and cable networks are engaging in pussyfoot acrobatics and word gymnastics that would awe even the most accomplished contortionist.  My guess is that the networks are still smarting from the election night debacle in November 2000 when they declared Al Gore the next Commander in Chief, then thought better of it as the evening wore on.

 

But there is a world of difference between covering hanging shads in Florida and falling scuds in Iraq.  In the first instance, the media had an obligation to hold their tongues until they knew for certain of what they spoke.  In the case of war coverage, journalists must report the facts as they appear to be at any given moment and give the viewers credit for understanding that accuracy takes on a whole different meaning when shrouded in the fog of war.

 

As we have learned from past wars, even ãconfirmedä reports from the field are later revised and often reversed.  During the first Gulf War, the patriot missiles worked great.  Right?

 

Covering chaos should not be a neat nor safe business.  Our soldiers lay it all on the line, including life and limb, trying to achieve their goals.  The journalists, and their network executives, must be willing to do no less when it comes to their carefully crafted reputations.  In wartime, accurate reporting is an oxymoron. 

 

 April 8, 2003

 

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