Quote Originally Posted by Cow Cookie View Post
...So I’m curious, whether you think I’m completely off base. Is the media, particularly Western media, an accepted part of the COIN at all levels or is it seen as an opponent in an us-versus-them conflict?
Of course the media is a part of COIN but there has to be a balance. The US Military is not allowed to "lie" to the media, I'll be gosh-darned if I know what law prevents this, but Public Affairs officers are loathe to even stretch the truth. Their overriding concern is always to be perceived as truth-tellers. When Information Operations operators and planners work with PA folks there used to be a lot of animosity and mistrust, but this appears to no longer be the case. As a matter of fact in Afghanistan it is codified that they work together and on almost all staffs there is cooperation.

But, there are two primary parts of Information Operations that make it difficult for PA and IO to work together, sometimes to the detriment of PA. Psychological Operations and Military Deception. The perception that PSYOP lies, while thy usually emphasize facts supporting their point, implies to some in the media that working with PSYOP means you might be not telling the truth (a misperception). Military Deception, by its very nature, either hides the truth in plain sight or absolutely obscures our true intentions, this could be perceived as outright lying. Thus there is a perception that anyone working in IO may or may not be telling the truth. This has also seemed to lead a misperception by some media members that the military is always 'not telling the truth'.

Another problem is that bad news sells. I can walk the media through countless shows of positive progress but the story that will sell deals with tragedy, corruption, illegal activities or another sort of a negative story. I've seen media folks not paying attention at demonstrations and slip away to find a "Joe Tentpeg" and ask their story, hoping to find a scoop. I can't fault them for this, not personally, but professionally it hurts.

Another problem is presenting the story. Dead babies worked great in Lebanon in 2006, showing the Israelis to be brutal, cruel, heartless - terrific negative press. The 2008/2009 Israeli-Hamas war saw Israel controlling media access to the battlespace and maximizing a myriad of media to portray their story, but the media was hobbled and spoon fed some stories.

How does this relate to COIN? Embedded media works, but it has inherent risk. Press releases are boring, press conferences are useful because it is more human, but empowering the press allows them to roam and see the truth for themselves. Issuing a list of 'must sees' to the media is an idea that occasionally works, but generating interest outside what appears to be official channels will draw media reporting - and this is a true challenge.

Cultural sensitivity is another really important issue. The military is beginning to understand that cultural differences create problems and is aggressively solving the problem when it occurs. But the media has the same problems, especially if they are foreigners... highlighting the difference between two very disparate cultures shows how well the situation is being addressed when successes do occur.

This is all difficult but must be done...