Analysis of the Embedded

Fascinating article on a conference at U.C. Berkeley that reviewed the outcome of embedded journalists in Iraq. Excerpt:

...Even for a reporter riding in a tank with American soldiers, any casualties inflicted by the crew usually occur off screen and out of sight. The result, said Gitlin, is that the point of view of the reporter approximates the view of the government's own camera. War reporting becomes a travelogue. He likened some war coverage – particularly that practiced by television – to a televised sporting event. Rather than journalism, it becomes entertainment. When the primary motive of media institutions becomes audience share, then these institutions "seek a rapture of attention" in order to procure as many eyeballs as possible. This, said Gitlin, conflicts with "a journalistic duty not to please," but rather to shake the safe assumptions of their audience....