"The Press Is Not The Enemy"
Slate's Jack Shafer writes that Secretary of Defense Robert Gates "adores the press":
Pointedly criticizing the conduct of the department and offering himself as the anti-Rumsfeld, Gates thanked the press (that would be the Washington Post) for uncovering the "problem" at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. "The press is not the enemy, and to treat it as such is self-defeating," he said.And a recent meeting between military brass and the National Council of Editorial Writers echoed that sentiment:While serving as president of Texas A&M University, he hit three very high free-speech notes at a September 2003 campus symposium on government-press relations, saying "there is good reason for journalists' skepticism and cynicism," "the press is the surest way for people to know the truth," and "secrecy is too often used as a cover for incompetence."
The U.S. military needs to get over its fear of the media and open up, a panel of officers told newspaper pundits Friday.Sure, sure, maybe it's just a bit of PR on the part of the military. Then again, maybe it isn't. Kansas City Star writer Scott Canon -- who covered the meeting – says he believes that Lt. Gen. William Caldwell (a former military spokesman in Iraq) has "found religion" when it comes to dealing with the media.From privates to generals, the commanders said, they recognize a tendency to shun media coverage and disdain access to troops in the field. But the officers said the military would be better served by jumping into the fray with curious reporters.
I've had conversations with him about trying to move the military to being more open. That what Caldwell tells a lot of people: that the military will benefit from being more open with the media. They need to be involved in a dialogue, not just shooting bullets.A key point was made later in Canon's piece, when Caldwell took a look at the media/military relationship from a few steps back.
The real risk, the general said, comes in standing mute. Journalists will do their utmost to file stories whether the military is willing to be a source or not, Caldwell said. That often leaves less reliable, even enemy, sources filling the information void and driving the stories, he said.Let's call this the Woodward Rule: Cooperate and Navigate. Only by working with media members can you direct the coverage.
Why the "Woodward Rule?" Simple. Whenever Bob Woodward puts together one of his blockbuster insider books, he gets access that most journalists can only dream of. As I discussed with the Christian Science Monitor years ago:
And, the more people talk to him, the more others feel they would be missing out not to. Felling calls this "implicit muscle," and compares Woodward to Tony Soprano, the character on the popular TV show. He does not look frightening, says Felling, but he wields great power and everyone knows it.See, the lesson the military seems to be getting – at least as far as the two recent articles suggest – is simple: The story is getting written, with or without you. Boycotting the media or stonewalling doesn't obstruct journalists from their work, it only keeps you from having your say.Edward Luttwak of the Center for Strategic and International Studies calls it intimidation. "If you don't talk to him, you get slammed," he says. "If you talk, you get your perspective in."