The third panel at the 2007 Milblog Conference included an invigorating discussion on bias in the media.
Mark at Eagle Speak– covers maritime security issues
Murdoc– Murdoc Online– Started in 2003- Blogs about military issues
Noah Shachtman of Wired Magazine– an MSM employee with interest in blogging
Slab from OPFOR– a popular military blog
Captain Anthony Deiss from CENTCOM
Noah Shachtman talked about the media representation. Noah claims there is not a bias from the media but the reasons is “what bleeds, leads”. Iraq has been a very dangerous war for journalists- over 100 journalists have been killed in Iraq.
Noah believes that there is no deliberate media bias yet then goes on and explains why there is media bias…
I was going to post the video clip but his statements were too confusing.
Slab from OPFOR says soldiers need to be empowered to help present the news. Only soldiers know and see several of the stories; particularly stories of progress.
A representative from the office of the Secretary of Defense says the department is involved with the blogs.
An employee from the Office of Defense spoke on the importance of communicating with bloggers.
KAT from MO emailed the question on why it takes so long to post video or stories from the front while the jihadists are able to post their propaganda immediately and effectively. Quick answer: Bureaucracy- the defense department must make sure that the information they release is true and accurate.
Lorie Byrd has a great roundup.
