Quote Originally Posted by Schmedlap View Post
Who is being censored and by whom?
There are a variety of ways to create censorship and thereby create an information conduit more conducive to the vagaries of conflict. The embed and pool concepts "allowed" by the military are a form of censorship. Tight control on the activities of reporters and thereby creating bias from refusing to allow flag dropped coffins shown, or embargoing stories because they are embarassing, up to and including charging journalists as spies all causes issues. But, don't take my word for it.

Media Under Fire: Reporting Conflict in Iraq Australian Government Document

This is likely the best document covering the ground of censorship, media involvement, and honest appraisal of the US Government tactics to make the war more palatable to the American public.

controlling the media in iraq Contexts Magazine (Sociology)

This article looks at the social aspects of the journalists and war in an in depth view that though I feel biased is fairly tactful in the treatment.

The issue is large, it is difficult, it is not a pretty, nor is it easy to understand. A simple epithet or slogan will not cover it, nor make it easier to understand. I find that to many people are more interested in finding evidence to support their position right or wrong than trying to discover the depth of the issue and the breadth of a solution. Media relations, and "handling" by commanders in a war zone, cuts a broad swath across the trust and relationship of the people and the military.

There is a broad anti-media sentiment in the members of the military. From the Pentagon Papers, to the Vietnam War, back to the befuddled Air Force and their Boeing contract the relationship between military service and media reporting has not been nice. It would be easy for me personally to say, "Screw the media, hang em all, let god sort em' out". You deserve better than a weak kneed echo chamber of popular shenanigans.

The military-civil discourse and media abandonment enjoyed in the early stages of the Iraq war has begun to erode in the waning of support for the commander in chief, the congress, and the established organizations and departments. If you look at the dates of the articles posted the bias from the Australian article to the sociology article is not in the authors perceptions but the dilation of time. The one is from five years ago and the other this spring.

Censorship is recognized not only the blocking of a story but in the acquisition of information to fully inform a story. Sunshine laws, FOIA and so many other access methods/laws are there to insure that the public is informed rather than blockaded. The military has used the blockade/embargo method in Iraq to great utility. It will breakdown if popular pressure from media outlets leads to "adventure" journalism and the reporting styles, as inelegant as they were, found in Vietnam.