Hi Dan,

On Fri 2037-Mar-13 10:51, Dan Ceppa (1:138/666) wrote to Richard Webb:

 RW> YOu have to agree that the military and political leaders in this
 RW> country took one very valuable lesson away from VIetnam, even if others

 RW> didn't quite take hold.  This lesson was that the reporters bringing
 RW> back the story to the folks at home in the age of satellite television
 RW> must be controlled carefully.  Hence the "embedded" reporter who
 RW> cannot go anywhere and act independently of his/her military handlers.

DC> They thought they were in the middle of a chance in a lifetime
DC> story.  They ended up having the story spoon fed to them.  And, few
DC> of them realized that they were no longer the reporter. 

YOu can only report if you can get an objective view.

DC> With a bird's eye view from their cell window,,,,

oF course.  WHat you hear see and learn is quite tightly
controled.  YOu can't talk about what you don't know.

 RW> THat's why we got that cool desert storm show on CNN the
 RW> first time.  A decade later we got the cool "shock and awe"
 RW> show.

DC> Lot's of lights.  Few, if any, bodies.  

BOdies are an embarrassment.  bodies remind mom and pop
sixpack that war is messy, people die, including possibly
those they love.  A neat fireworks display never hurt
anybody otoh.  the messy part was out of sight and out of
mind.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+