By David Axe
wired.com
On Monday, Stars & Stripes broke the news that U.S. military media handlers in Afghanistan have been rating embedded reporters according to their sympathy towards U.S. war aims. Turns out this was an open secret among veterans of the Kabul beat. P.J. Tobia got his hands on his profile months ago, according to his piece in True/Slant.
“Rating the coverage that reporters give the military — “positive,” “neutral,” “negative” — seems a bit silly and slightly Orwellian, but if thousands of reporters were covering my organization, I would want a simple shorthand to identify them as well,” Tobia wrote. “I do think the reports are creepy though. These guys have read almost everything I’ve written in the last few years, even interviews I’ve given to local news blogs. Reading this report is like perusing the diary of your stalker.”
Tobia helpfully quotes portions of his profile:
Tobia continues to humanize U.S. soldiers by quoting mainly U.S. military personnel and detailing the soldiers’ backgrounds, homes and reaction to fighting in Afghanistan.
His most recent article is neutral-to-positive while his previous work has been neutral or neutral-to-negative. …
[Tobia's] articles on Afghanistan focused on multiple topics that included, narcotics use, detainee abuse, the ‘hearts and minds’ mission, the development of the ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] as well as the overall cost of the US mission in Afghanistan. He produced two articles that were originally published in The Washington Post and Nashville Scene but were later picked up by New York’s left-leaning Village Voice and Florida’s New Times. …
Based on his previous embed and past reporting, it is unlikely that he will miss an opportunity to report on U.S. military missteps. However, if following previous trends, he will remain sympathetic to U.S. troops and may acknowledge a learning curve in Afghanistan.
No comments:
Post a Comment