Shooting the messenger : the political impact of war reporting / Paul L. Moorcraft and Philip M. Taylor.

1st ed.

9781574889475 (alk. paper)
1574889478 (alk. paper)

Washington, D.C. : Potomac Books, c2008.

English

xv, 318 p. ; 24 cm.

PN4784.W37 M66 2008

070.4/33

As the literature on military-media relations grows, it is informed by antagonism either from journalists who report on wars or from ex-soldiers in their memoirs. Academics who attempt more judicious accounts rarely have any professional military or media experience. A working knowledge of the operational constraints of both professions underscores Shooting the Messenger. A veteran war correspondent and think tank director, Paul L. Moorcraft has served in the British Ministry of Defence, while historian-by-training Philip M. Taylor is a professor of international communications who has lectured widely to the U.S. military and at NATO institutions. Some of the topics they examine in this wide-ranging history of military-media relations are: - the interface between soldiers and civilian reporters covering conflicts - the sometimes grey area between reporters' right or need to know and the operational security constraints imposed by the military - the military's manipulation of journalists who accept it as a trade-off for safer battlefield access - the resultant gap between images of war and their reality - the evolving nature of media technology and the difficulties-and opportunities-this poses to the military - journalistic performance in reporting conflict as an observer or a participant Moorcraft and Taylor provide a bridge over which each side can pass and a path to mutual understanding.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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