COIN & The Media (catch all)

[Ron Humphrey]

The article reports on a journalist/editor/CEO expressing his personal views to an audience of fellow journalists/students where it would be fully appropriate for him to express his personal opinions. I didn't find anything in it that was especially objectionable—I find the references to al-Qa'ida a bit too silly and rhetorical for my tastes, but people tend to get rhetorical when delivering rhetoric.

When journalists stop advocating for first amendment rights/freedom of speech/etc is when one really needs to worry. If people find it odd that journalists think they should be free to to their jobs, then there is even mutual misunderstanding than I first thought!

This part somewhat confounds me

said the news industry must immediately negotiate a new set of rules for covering war because "we are the only force out there to keep the government in check and to hold it accountable."

Might just be me but i coulda sworn thats what having three separate but equal branches was all about


Exactly how should organizations such as the military who spend probably a good 30+% of their resources ensuring they keep themselves in check recieve such statements as this. Especially from those who help run organizations who not only in perception but in known highly visible reality tend to spend 85% of their time and efforts looking for whats wrong with others yet should anything be askance on their homefront will quickly turn all 100% toward CYA rather than owning up to it.

If people find it odd that journalists think they should be free to to their jobs, then there is even mutual misunderstanding than I first thought!

Perhaps theres something there

maybe definition of what exactly their job is??