Media and the Military

Some people chastise me for being too hard on the media when it comes to their reporting on military matters. They say that I am unwarranted in my criticisms and that I should be more careful because I influence hatred of the media in others.

Why exactly do I detest the coverage the media provides about Iraq and Afghanistan? Why do I often blame them for encouraging terrorists to continue fighting? Why is it that I believe most media types are unfit to report on the military? Why do I cringe when I watch the news and read papers? There is one simple answer for all of these questions: Those reporting on the military have no clue what they are talking about because they have never been in the military.

Now I can see many objections to my viewpoint. I can already hear people saying things like “Well journalists cover things everyday that they have no direct experience with.” And if you feel this way then you are somewhat right. Female reporters cover football every Sunday and I am willing to bet that they never played on an NFL team. Bob Costas covers the Olympics every few years and I am pretty sure he never actually competed in them. The difference between covering sports etc. and covering the military is that when covering the military people’s lives are on the line and the world’s opinion is a result of the news coming out of the war zone. If people who have no clue what it is like to serve in the military, to risk their life day in and day out, to shoulder a large burden at a young age all the while being judged by the world for every mistake or misstep then they cannot accurately report the news. Sure they can talk about the latest body count or bomb but can they explain why soldiers want to go home while still feeling a strong pull to stay in the war zone to ensure things continue to improve?

Dinesh D’Souza, a prominent conservative author and thinker who happens to be a man I admire greatly, said in an interview conducted early last year concerning Kerry and Bush that “If I was in a foxhole I’d take Kerry. But we’re not electing the president to jump in your foxhole. Who’s the better man is not always the best way to go.” D’Souza was talking about his choice to vote for Bush over Kerry because he felt Bush was a better leader although Kerry appeared to be the better man. What D’Souza could never know because he never served in the military is what exactly it takes to be a good military man. Although it isn’t part of my main argument I’ll share what I think it takes to be a good military man. What it takes to be a military man (and a good man in general) is someone who is selfless and willing to put other’s needs before their own while at the same time setting the example for them to follow (not coping-out after 4 months in country). Kerry embodied neither of these traits and therefore I would never care to share a foxhole with him, I am not sure if I could even share the same state with him. Also after serving in a confined area with people for an extended period of time you learn to recognize if other people have what it takes to endure when the times get tough and situations get rough. You’ll never know until you are there and until then all is speculation.

The MSM’s ignorance of the military leads them to make judgments that they aren’t qualified to make. When the media, in all their ignorance, makes judgments about how things are going in Iraq they are influencing the world. They have the world’s attention because they are in Iraq and if they are in Iraq they surely must know what they are talking about. Case in point: During my first deployment in 2003 I spent some time at the Abu Gharib prison right as it was opening for business. After I left a small element from my unit stayed there for another eight months. We left Iraq the week before the “abuse” story was released to the general public. I remember sitting in the den in my house watching as Dan Rather reported to the world about the “atrocities” that occurred in the prison. Forget the torture chambers that I walked through where blood was still splattered on the walls from Saddam’s happier days; there were naked Iraqis with dogs barking at them! Toward the end of the show Danny boy showed a couple pictures of dead prisoners and said something to the effect of “And here are some pictures of dead prisoners, we can only guess at how they died!” Oh really Dan, thanks for the expert reporting. My guess is that those prisoners either died from natural causes or died after getting shot by a soldier for rioting and trying to kill American soldiers as happened from time to time. Or maybe they were killed by their own people who often lobbed mortars into the prison in hopes that they would hit Americans.

I remember hearing another story about Abu Ghraib at the same time that the “abuse” story was making headlines. This lesser known story was about the terrorists who were supposedly targeting their own people inside their prison so that they wouldn’t have to live through the horrors of getting naked and having a female take pictures with them. Bulls$*t. The reason the mortars were killing the prisoners was because the terrorists couldn’t aim properly and just fired in the general direction of the prison and hoped for the best result. The media of course needed another sensational story to back up the already sensational one circulating on the nightly news. What better way to do that then to make something up all on their own. Who cared if it was accurate it sure sounded good.

My point is that media types who have no prior military service should be listened to with a cautionary ear. Yeah they might be able to explain to you generalities but they will never be able to get into the mind of soldiers. They will never be able to understand how their words hurt those they are trying to report about. They will never be able to know these things because they have never served. Heck, half the time they can’t even label pictures with military ordinance and machinery correctly. There are some good reporters and bloggers out there who have never served in the military but they are few and far between.

The part of winter quarter at school I was able to get in before I was deployed in 2003 I had a history teacher tell my class one day that if we ever wanted to get into politics then it would behoove us to join the military. He knew then, as all Americans know now, that military service can be used as a stepping-stone for other careers. I would urge all prospective media wannabes to join the military, whatever branch they want to, so as to gain an understanding for the military. If they do so then they will be much more able to accurately represent those who mean so much to our country.

Until the time comes when those reporting on the military have served themselves I will not cut the media any breaks. I don’t care who I offend because the media has offended me time and time again. I had a dream the other night that the media wanted us to win the war against terrorism and as a result started reporting the truth, but then I woke up and hit my head on the ceiling of my trailer and was reminded that like the media life sometimes sucks.