Fortress Mentality?

Steve Valley, author of Inside the Fortress, posted some good discussion-provoking comments about my review of one small part of his book.  (I may take on some other parts of the book in a future post.) But for now, I want to engage some of the points Steve has raised.  Here are his comments in full, and my response.  And of course, Steve will have carte blanche to respond again.   Also if you want to take sides I’m putting a poll at the end, so we’ll see who is more persuasive.  Or just join the debate in the comments section.

STEVE VALLEY: “The reason why military and the civilian leaders selected Mr. Burns was because he was the most prolific and simply the best journalist in Baghdad. He’d been writing about Iraq since the Gulf War and nobody knew the intricacies of Iraq better than him. Come on, he wrote for the NY Times and we all know how friendly the most left-leaning daily newspaper in America was to the whole military operation in Iraq. Check the archives of his stories and see how many of them are critical vs. positive of what was going on. It may be tough to admit, but John Burns was light years ahead of every journalist in country with regards to talent, knowledge and connections. End of story.“
JAMIE McINTYRE:  No arguments here.   While John Burns’ reporting was — in the words my original post “of the highest caliber” — my point was that in being too publically lauded by the people you are covering, you run the risk of creating the opposite perception.  Especially among people who already are predisposed to believe the worst about the military media relationship.  As I said, Burns is so solid, his reputation so stellar, it wasn’t an occupational hazard for him.  But the praise of other journalists — especially the blanket praise for Fox –  feeds into anti-military and media sentient that embedded reporters are too cozy with their sources.  My point was about the perception, not the reality.

STEVE VALLEY: “Again, you’re writing as a scorned CNN reporter that missed out on stories because I or someone else from the CPIC didn’t call you to cover a particular story. Fox reporters were always around waiting to cover any story, whether good or bad. You sound like Keith Olbermann at MSNBC lobbing hand grenades at Fox by calling the whole Fox news team partial to positive coverage. They weren’t and you know it. It was much easier to get Fox to cover a special event or a feature story because they were readily available whereas most of the other media outlets took hours to get to the CPIC when these opportunities arose. Remember, they had moved into al-Rasheed Hotel across the street from the CPIC and were working out of the International Press Center that was adjacent to the CPIC, so yeah, we went to them first with some stories because it made our lives easier over a 16–20 hour workday.“
JAMIE McINTYRE”  Ouch.  Hell, hath no fury like a reporter scorned.   Honestly, I think you misread me here.  I wasn’t accusing Fox or anyone else of “partial or positive coverage”.  I was saying you — by saying you liked ANY reporter from Fox —  were fueling that perception. As a reporter, I made a lot of effort to win the respect of the people I covered, trying to convince them I was “one of the good ones,” who would give them a fair shake, and who was trying to provide context, not provoke outrage with my coverage.  And yes, that did result in me getting more than my share of scoops and exclusives.   I understand why PAOs appreciate the really good reporters like John Burns.  It does make your life easier when the coverage is evenhanded and impartial, and incisive to boot.   I wasn’t criticizing Fox.  I was gently chiding YOU, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, suggesting that in handing out praise, you may have the unintended consequence of tarnishing their image.

STEVE VALLEY: “You can say what you want about Steve Harrigan, but I think his train of thought was that the insurgents shot and tried to kill these Marines just minutes before entering the mosque and they deserved what they got. I personally wouldn’t have thought twice about whacking these militants. The Marines did the right thing, and I’m willing to bet that a majority of the American public would agree with me. That’s why the main stream media is held in such low-regard these days because they’re always trying to create another story that’s critical of Bush’s war and his military. You and I will never see the same on this issue so there’s no point in carrying on.“
JAMIE McINTYRE:  Actually I don’t know what Steve Harrigan was thinking.  It would be great to hear from him. I only have your account to go on.  Maybe Steve felt the enemy insurgent got what he deserved, as you say.   Maybe he thought any investigation should be done outside the public eye.  Maybe he thought the average American wouldn’t understand the context of what happened, or the split-second decisions that have to be made in combat.  Maybe Steve believes in the laws of war and the principles embraced by our military that place us above the murderous terrorists we’re fighting.  I don’t know.  I do know that your account reinforces the perception that Steve Harrigan, and by association his network, would be willing to turn a blind eye to a possible war crime.    As I point out, an investigation cleared the Marine in question.  What looked on video to be a case of shooting the wounded on the battlefield, was judged to be too ambiguous to blame the Marine.  That wasn’t my point.  My point was when reporters witness potential misconduct by U.S. troops in combat, they have an obligation to cover it, not cover it up. I also knew Steve at CNN, and have nothing but praise the few times we worked together in the field.

STEVE VALLEY: You write as if I was singling out CNN reporters in my book when you know that I wasn’t. You have to tell the complete story of why I had problems with Mr. Vause and Ms. Amanpour. Mr. Vause purposely tried to goad me into a physical altercation by screaming at me, “That’s why you’re losing this thing because America is too fucking arrogant!” Mind you that he screamed this at me while we were nose-to-nose in front of at least 100 media and government officials inside the Baghdad Convention Center.  I think I won this? I walked away and called his producer and never saw him again at the CPIC. I did what any professional would do. I would have done the same to you, John Burns or Tom Brokaw. It didn’t matter that Vause was with CNN, it mattered that he was completely unprofessional.    Ms. Amanpour is a great journalist but seemed peeved that she had to play by the same rules as everyone else. Jamie, this had nothing to do with either of their reporting, just their own level of common courtesy and professionalism.
JAMIE McINTYRE:  Again my point here wasn’t that you were unjustified in your position.  My point is that anytime you get in a fight with a reporter, no matter how right you are and how wrong the reporter is, it only raises the reporter’s stature within his or her news organizations.  It an example of what I like to call “the natural perversity of life.”   I have seen many reporters who behave like arrogant, agenda-driven weasels, whose editors see that as a virtue.   My point was to point out that your criticism paradoxically probably helps their careers.   I’m not defending Christiane or John Vause.  I’m just saying you’re doing them a favor by complaining about them.   That’s the irony.

So, what do you think?

(polls)

Tags: Inside the Fortress, Military Media, Steve Valley