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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: LindyBill who wrote (95613)	1/17/2005 11:07:39 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793782

Soldiers get tips on dealing with media 'Talking points' offered on Iraq The News & Observer By JAY PRICE, Staff Writer FORT BRAGG -- As they leave for a yearlong tour in Iraq, soldiers of the 18th Airborne Corps are packing the necessities of modern warfare: M-4 carbines, ceramic-plated body armor and a plastic wallet card that lists talking points for interviews. These days, with embedded reporters and all-around greater media access to troops, training in handling the media on the battlefield has become mandatory. Soldiers and Marines about to deploy get a refresher class, like the one taught last week to about 60 Iraq-bound members of the 18th Corps' artillery headquarters battery. Packing every desk in a high-ceiling classroom, and so close to shipping out that most already wore desert camouflage, they got a PowerPoint slide show from Master Sgt. Pam Smith of the Corps public affairs office. She also gave them plastic cards listing talking points on one side and basic guidelines and tips for interviews on the other. "If you don't tell your story, they will tell their own, and all they will have to go on is their own thoughts and opinions," Smith told the Fort Bragg soldiers. "If we don't share with them what we do, the good things we do, they can't report it." Military public affairs officers say the idea isn't to "spin" reporters. Rather, the goal is to familiarize troops with a duty that has become almost routine. "The media is just another element of what we call the battlefield environment," said Maj. Jason Johnston, a Pentagon spokesman for the Marine Corps. One of the main messages is that talking to journalists is smart, not just because it paints an accurate picture of the military but also because it's an opportunity. There was a gentle subtext to the course: Soldiers should dwell on the positive. The slide show's first talking point was, "We are not an occupying force. Goal is to help Iraqis secure their country." It was clear from the experiences of the soldiers in the class that troops are likely to interact with journalists. Sgt. 1st Class Mark Ellison said a reporter from New York was with his unit during the early part of the Iraq war. He didn't see much of the man's work, just a psychological profile of Saddam Hussein posted by the units' leaders. He found the story interesting. Capt. Julian Urquidez said a writer for Wired magazine was with his unit. Some soldiers had reservations, but Urquidez thought the writer was honest and fair. "It was like having a Monday-morning quarterback, but he was there Sunday for the game, too," Urquidez said. "They're just out there doing their jobs like we're doing ours." Instruction in dealing with reporters might be relatively new, but reporters on the battlefield are not. For most of the history of journalism, reporters traveled with troops in the field. But relations between the military and the media soured during the Vietnam War. Reporters published stories that contradicted rosy progress reports by top brass; officers, in turn, accused journalists of not supporting their country. Reporters were then all but barred from combat operations, through the first Persian Gulf War. For the conflict in Iraq, however, the Pentagon changed its rules and invited more than 700 "embeds." Now, journalists are a routine presence in Iraq and Afghanistan. Public affairs officers from all the branches of service learn the basics of training troops in dealing with the media at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, Md. They then tailor the training to their units and coming missions, said Lt. Col. Gerard Healy, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon. Teachers at the school suggest that public affairs officers use some form of the plastic reminder cards. The cards are common but are not universal, Healy said. Smith said the soldiers were more likely to use the cards than use a paper handout. During the class for the artillery unit, one soldier who had taken the class before a previous deployment pulled out his old card and showed it to her. Most of the training is designed simply to help troops become familiar with how journalists work, with their place on the battlefield and with the relationship between the media and the military. One of the main messages is "staying in your lane" -- sticking to things you know and not spouting philosophy or speculating. There is also information on the rules for embedded journalists who, to preserve security, aren't allowed to reveal information about current or future missions. Many journalists who work with the military are unaware of the training. Some who have been embedded with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, though, often joke that younger soldiers seem to have been coached to praise their chain of leadership and their training, especially when they run out of things to say. Smith told the soldiers not to actually consult the card during an interview, as one young soldier did. That drew laughs, as did another of the card's militarily impossible tips: "Avoid using acronyms or profane language." Staff writer Jay Price can be reached at 829-4526 or jprice@newsobserver.com. © Copyright 2005, The News & Observer Publishing Company, a subsidiary of The McClatchy CompanyMcClatchy Company