Though extensive press coverage has insured that the current conflict in Iraq will be the best-documented war in history, some have decried the mainstream media as inherently biased. Such assertions have taken on greater significance in recent days, as two prominent reporters were dismissed for purported violations of journalistic procedure.
"NBC is owned by General Electric, the largest military contractor in the world, so it's not surprising that it's going to enforce the rules the Pentagon has made for war coverage. The corporation itself is part of the military-industrial complex," history professor Ronald Edsforth said, in response to the Monday firing of noted war reporter Peter Arnett.
The clarity of journalism continues to be important as the coalition war effort shifts its focus to Baghdad -- American air elements struck more elite Iraqi units yesterday as troops amassed for the impending siege of Baghdad. Half of the tanks belonging to the Republican Guard's Medina Division, which sits between U.S. forces and the Iraqi capital, have been destroyed in previous days, according to coalition military officials. Against such a backdrop, the conduct of a few members of the press has come under great scrutiny.
Arnett was fired after an interview on Iraqi television in which he said that initial American war efforts had "failed." Arnett -- one of only a few reporters in Baghdad itself -- was on assignment for National Geographic Explorer and had also reported for NBC and MSNBC.
Both networks questioned Arnett's journalistic objectivity in announcements of his termination. "It was wrong for Mr. Arnett to grant an interview to state-controlled Iraqi TV, especially at a time of war, and it was wrong for him to discuss his personal observations and opinions in that interview," NBC News President Neal Shapiro said.
Edsforth said the incident was foolish on the part of Arnett, but helps define the policy for American reporters. "Arnett spoke unwisely and violated a well understood set of rules and customs," said Edsforth, who is also the coordinator of the War and Peace Studies program. "I'm sure he's not truly surprised, looking back on it."
Edsforth also characterized Arnett's words and actions as "going against the myth-history that reporters are supposed to be conveying." According to the professor, prominent journalists must report news through a certain defined frame of reference.
"They know their job; they have to support the troops, too. Those that don't will not dominate the stories that people will read and watch," Edsforth said.
Edsforth expressed a further lack of shock that major American news networks chose to distance themselves from Arnett.
Arnett had previously reported on the Vietnam War, the First Gulf War and the recent conflict in Afghanistan. He received a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting in Vietnam and the New York Times recently called him "the face of the 1991 Persian Gulf War."
Arnett has since been hired by the Daily Mirror, a British tabloid.
In an unrelated story, Geraldo Rivera left Iraq of his own accord yesterday after coalition officials threatened to expel him. Rivera, who had been embedded with the 101st Airborne, reportedly drew the ire of the American military after he divulged planned troop movements in a live television broadcast on Monday. Sketching a map of Iraq on the sand in front of him, Rivera indicated the current and probably future locations of American ground units during his report for Fox News.
Rivera's threatened expulsion is simpler to understand than Arnett's firing, according to Edsforth. "In an even more blatant sense, Rivera violated the rules. He had no recourse," Edsforth said.
Although military officials told news networks of Rivera's planned expulsion early Monday, uncertainty and rumors swirled for the better part of a day, according to CNN. Rivera himself initially faulted rival corporations for such talk, saying: "MSNBC is so pathetic a cable news network that they have to do anything they can to attract attention. You can rest assured that whatever they're saying is a pack of lies."
Despite the protests of Fox News, however, American military officials insisted that Rivera leave Iraq, according to CNN. Officials reportedly compromised only to allow his voluntary, rather than compulsory, removal.
