As the literature on military-media relations grows, it is informed by antagonism either from journalists who report on wars or from ex-soldiers in their memoirs. Academics who attempt more judicious accounts rarely have any professional military or media experience.
A working knowledge of the operational constraints of both professions underscores Shooting the Messenger. A veteran war correspondent and think tank director, Paul L. Moorcraft has served in the British Ministry of Defence, while historian-by-training Philip M. Taylor is a professor of international communications who has lectured widely to the U.S. military and at NATO institutions. Some of the topics they examine in this wide-ranging history of military-media relations are:
-the interface between soldiers and civilian reporters covering conflicts
-the sometimes grey area between reporters' right or need to know and the operational security constraints imposed by the military
-the military's manipulation of journalists who accept it as a trade-off for safer battlefield access
-the resultant gap between images of war and their reality
-the evolving nature of media technology and the difficulties-and opportunities-this poses to the military
-journalistic performance in reporting conflict as an observer or a participant
Moorcraft and Taylor provide a bridge over which each side can pass and a path to mutual understanding.
- ISBN10 1574889478
- ISBN13 9781574889475
- Publish Date 30 June 2008
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Potomac Books Inc
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 336
- Language English