Article published March 25, 2002
Reality, Pentagon style
The news media reported on the war in Afghanistan under the most severe government restrictions ever. Now that the shooting is (mostly) over, the Pentagon is continuing to try to shape coverage of the conflict by opening access to U.S. troops in Central Asia to "reality TV."
The question is, of course, whose reality? What's really happening or what the Defense Department spinmeisters want the American people to see?
Reporters were prohibited from accompanying troops into combat for weeks after hostilities commenced last October, and access to the war zone was strictly limited. So it is difficult to understand how the public will be well informed by several "reality-based" entertainment shows to which military officials have given their full cooperation.
VH1, the cable music video channel, is working on a "military diaries project," in which 60 soldiers will record their activities using digital cameras. The aim, the producer says, is "to connect our viewing audience to the experience of being at war" and to provide a record of "what it's like to be a young soldier in the year 2002."
ABC has a start on "Profiles from the Front Lines," a series expected to air this summer. And CBS is readying "American Fighter Pilots," scheduled to debut on March 29. While VH1 and CBS said they retain editorial control of their shows, Pentagon media handlers are "working with" ABC producers on story lines for "Profiles."
That the military is cooperating on entertainment rather than news isn't surprising. Warm and fuzzy stories of our service people abroad are much more palatable to the home front than tales of death and destruction.
Correspondents have accompanied American troops into battle for generations with few problems. But U.S. commanders who felt that reporters had too much rein during the Vietnam conflict first implemented severe restrictions during the Persian Gulf War.
This view has carried over into the war on terrorism, and is compounded by the Bush administration's general penchant for excessive secrecy. The Pentagon's recent foray into the propaganda business is another worrisome sign of incipient Big Brotherism.
Unfortunately for the American public, government secrecy tends to breed more secrecy, to the point where the truth is pushed aside and the people keeping the secrets forget who their real bosses are.
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