TheSkiffView
COVERAGE
Reporters should tell, not cause, stories

From the start, we knew the war in Iraq would be different. Everything from war support to the battle technology to the coverage that brought the war home challenged us.

But they also brought questions.

This war saw the start of embedding journalists with the troops. It also brought to the forefront the safety of the journalists with these troops, some in combat.

But even more, we need to be worrying about the safety and morale of these troops.

This week saw two veteran journalists either fired or forced out of Iraq. NBC fired Peter Arnett, whose coverage of the Gulf War in 1991, gained him prestige, for giving an interview to a government-owned Iraqi television station in which he said the war’s start was a failure because of Iraqi resistance. Geraldo Rivera also made the news after he drew a map of Iraq in the sand, pointing out his position with the 101st Airborne and where they would be headed next. Both have been in trouble before.

It’s one thing to keep the public informed, but it’s another to, in an effort to get the story, give away the location of troops or to move out of your job as a storyteller and become the story.

Everyday, journalists are working to improve the quality of their stories, publications or broadcasts. But the first time a journalist crosses the line, it erases any steps that could have been made. Even worse, in this case, it could have cost the lives of American troops.

It’s hard for the general public to trust media as a whole because of these few sore thumbs.

We need to make sure the war is covered, honestly and thoroughly. But let’s not cause any more trouble than needed.