STORM2K

Last night I saw a segment on 20/20 I think. A triage/temp hospital was set up by US docs in an abandoned building in Iraq. They didn't want to disclose the location but gave several shots from the front. Maybe all the buildings look a like, what do I know, but this was dumb, IMO. I don't need to see what this triage center looks like - please just take care of the injured, as quietly as possible. Without press coverage. But no, they had to do a piece on this story.....and 852 other stories out there. This unit is located right here and going in.....you get the idea!

Way too much info, IMHO.

Remember after Sept. 11th, Pres. Bush's location was revealed. All planes were grounded and the press reported where he was traveling next!!! I remember screaming at the TV - don't tell us that!!! Please keep the President's whereabouts confidential. What is wrong with our news media? You know Saddam can and does access all of these news outlets. I, as a concerned US citizen, do not need to know all of this "breaking news", etc. I wish more of it was classified info. In the wrong hands, it's downright dangerous.

Thoughts anyone?

Miss Mary wrote:Last night I saw a segment on 20/20 I think. A triage/temp hospital was set up by US docs in an abandoned building in Iraq. They didn't want to disclose the location but gave several shots from the front. Maybe all the buildings look a like, what do I know, but this was dumb, IMO. I don't need to see what this triage center looks like - please just take care of the injured, as quietly as possible. Without press coverage. But no, they had to do a piece on this story.....and 852 other stories out there. This unit is located right here and going in.....you get the idea!

Way too much info, IMHO.

Remember after Sept. 11th, Pres. Bush's location was revealed. All planes were grounded and the press reported where he was traveling next!!! I remember screaming at the TV - don't tell us that!!! Please keep the President's whereabouts confidential. What is wrong with our news media? You know Saddam can and does access all of these news outlets. I, as a concerned US citizen, do not need to know all of this "breaking news", etc. I wish more of it was classified info. In the wrong hands, it's downright dangerous.

Thoughts anyone?

Great Post Miss Mary!
I agree totally.The media uses the guise as being a Pariotic self imprtant self serving ratings monger.The 09-11 Coverage was excellent for about 3 days.Then,as per ususal,it got too involved in the carnage with little regard for the feelings of Families and friends,IMO.
As far as Pres Bush's location during the mayhem,much was speculation.
He was in Fla..and was due to take AF 1 back to D.C.
Obviously,those plans were scrapped,especially since the Pentagon was hit and more planes were inbound..supposedly headed for the Capitol Bldg or the White House itself.AF 1 was thought to have been a target as well.Cheney was removed to another location as well,as protocol calls for them to be in seperate locations should anything happen to one or the other.Cheney was most likely at Cheyenne Mtn,Colo in a bunker with his wife.
Pres Bush was railed against for not speaking sooner,however Omaha was his #2 destination as Norad took over.He could have addressed the Nation from AF 1 however,the situation was still unfolding.He was wise to have waited.The Air Force was incharge of his safety at that point as well.
The Media is a circus of sharks that can get out of control in a feeding frenzy if left unchecked.We depend upon them to Police temselves,and again in the first few days,they were very professional.
Now..we have embeddded Journalists bringing the play by play.Arnetts' faux pas was inevitable for reasons stated.The enemy is watching too. ..or did they forget?

In wartime, there should be a clear line drawn between "the people's right to know" and military operations potentially exposed...I noted one lapse already from Baghdad, when a British reporter let slip that the 1st Marines were 40 km from where he was (that's 24.6 miles, MUCH closer than has been aired here).

However, with technology being what it is, a total blackout is impossible...so what I've done is ration my news time on the tube to three times a day, so as not to suffer "CNN Syndrome" burnout.

streetsoldier wrote:In wartime, there should be a clear line drawn between "the people's right to know" and military operations potentially exposed...I noted one lapse already from Baghdad, when a British reporter let slip that the 1st Marines were 40 km from where he was (that's 24.6 miles, MUCH closer than has been aired here).

However, with technology being what it is, a total blackout is impossible...so what I've done is ration my news time on the tube to three times a day, so as not to suffer "CNN Syndrome" burnout.

I also noted that.Also in another overnight report on FoxyNews,a reporter noted that they were 150Km S of 'GagDead'.This was not an Infantry Unit..it was HVY Artillery with Helos.Not good.
Moreover..even Col Ollie North,albeit stipulating that he would not reveal a '20' got around it by saying that Per Centcom,his location was at the 'Tip of the Spear'!Good Lord.Any savvy Enemy General with decent Intel knows his own backyard well enough to get a pretty decent Grid point.
We have to be more careful,esp with Scuds,Al samoud II and SUN 4 Missiles being armed and coordinates locked in...well within range.

streetsoldier wrote:In wartime, there should be a clear line drawn between "the people's right to know" and military operations potentially exposed...I noted one lapse already from Baghdad, when a British reporter let slip that the 1st Marines were 40 km from where he was (that's 24.6 miles, MUCH closer than has been aired here).

However, with technology being what it is, a total blackout is impossible...so what I've done is ration my news time on the tube to three times a day, so as not to suffer "CNN Syndrome" burnout.

Well everywhere the us forces go i think it should be secret . It no talk about it on the news over on the iraqi front all there need to do is to look at TV to get miltary infomation.

Operational security should come first for sure. It was only a matter of time before there were slips from the media. I do have to say that for the most part the media has been abidibg by the rules. My point when we discussed this issue at the beginning was that the American just doesn't need real time combat information. The 91 war was handled much better from a press standpoint.

So true Miss Mary!! Just recently Bush was in Florida at Centcom headquarters. It was announced in the media a day before he was to arrive. The day he arrived one of the most wanted terrorists was seen in the vacinity. Last weekend the media announced President Bush and his wife were going to Camp David for the weekend. They need to put some kind of a cap on "Freedom of the press" during wartime and any other catastrophic event such as Sept. 11th.

I agree 100%. I think they should keep their lips sealed about the location of The President and members of his cabinet during times of war. I think the press has too much freedom in some aspects. I understand freedom of speech and the press but in times of war, concesions should be made IMHO.. :o

Johnathan

Like DJ said, the media is a bunch of sharks.

Yes I did work in the media for a while (during 9-11) and the newsroom director (NRD) told the anchors to put bush's location on-air. The NRD really didn't care if the location went on in Green Bay/Appleton market, because it was on the national news already and was been mentioned for numerous hours. Thanks in part to the NRD's who which wanted to publically identify the location of Bush.

Here's my opinion...who really cares! I certainly don't. Just think if Bush was a person off the streets, do we care about their location...nope. Just because of his high awareness stature, the media must share his life story and where is visiting today. In one hand I do, but in the other hand I don't. Yes, he is the pres, but he needs his privacy too.

One would speculate safety, while others could careless. If you are trying to keep the commander in chief safe, then why give the whereabouts. Its just common sense people. Albeit bush was traveling in AF1, the media could have kept that a secret...but nope, it had to come out.

No wonder why we are being ambushed in Iraq...Duh, think about it. Iraq probably has spies over here in the US and those particular people are forwarding the location of the Militia to Hussein that way we can't press forward to Baghdad. We all have figured out the movement of the troops and so has Hussein...you think he is going to counteract the movement...well you betcha. Thanks here in part to the media.

Freedom of Speech can only go so far, and in many cases, it is out of hand.

Families need time to share or cry about the loved ones that have not returned safely from overseas, they don't need to be hounded from the media. Give them space! Before the shark attack, give the families time to pray and to remember the family member(s) that are MIA, POW and returned in a coffin.

But according to NRD's, they want the story NOW, not 5 minutes from now... First at the Location, First to Air! Its just a competition between stations to give the best amount of information in the quickest amount of time.

Remember it this way...the media is like a pack of dogs on a 3 legged cat! Its a fight to get the meat instead of the fluff.