2007 WAR & THE MEDIA ARCHIVE :

Please note : Most publications move older stories into their archives which may require a fee to view the full story. Some stories listed below may no longer be available online.

International Herald Tribune, 18 Dec 07, by Adam B. Ellick
Attacks on journalists increase
'More journalists have been killed worldwide in 2007 than in any year since 1994, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an independent group that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.'

OpenNet, Oct 07
Pulling the Plug: A Technical Review of the Internet Shutdown in Burma
'This bulletin examines the role of information technology, citizen journalists, and bloggers in Burma and presents a technical analysis of the abrupt shutdown of Internet connectivity by the Burmese government on September 29, 2007, following its violent crackdown on protesters there.'

Washington Post, 15 Oct 07, by Joshua Partlow and Amit R. Paley
Reporter For Post Is Fatally Shot In Baghdad
'Saif Aldin's death adds to a list of at least 118 journalists who have been killed in Iraq while on duty, nearly 100 of whom were Iraqis, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.'

BBC News, 28 Sep 07
Japan call over journalist death
'Japan is demanding a full explanation from Burma over the death of a Japanese journalist who was covering anti-government protests there. ... Japan is a leading aid donor to Burma and has been criticised for failing to take a tougher line against the regime.'

New York Times 'The Lede', 17 Sep 07, by Mike Nizza
A Weekend With Greenspan's Iraq War Comment
'Twenty words from Alan Greenspan's memoir of a career that ended at the top of the Federal Reserve streaked across the Web on Saturday like the bullet that preceded the smoking gun ...'

Christian Science Monitor, 18 Sep 07, by Dan Murphy
Egypt extends crackdown to press
'The arrest of Ibrahim Eissa and three other opposition journalists is the latest signal of tightening government control, reflecting anxiety over presidential succession.'

Washington Post, 17 Sep 07, by Dan Froomkin
Bush's Battlefield Envy
'In the first session of its kind, Bush spent almost an hour on Friday talking with 10 so-called "milbloggers," including two who participated by video conference from a military base outside Baghdad.'

International Herald Tribune, 09 Sep 07, by Steven Erlanger
In dealings with media, Hamas resorts to brutality
'Hamas seems confused about how to quash Fatah protests and simultaneously deal with the media. Trying to nurture a reputation for honesty and legal behavior since it conquered Gaza in bloody fighting in June, Hamas leaders promise journalists freedom of action, but the police intimidate the journalists.'

Washington Post Writers Group, 10 Aug 07, by Kathleen Parker
An Outpost of American Valor
'... Reporting truth is a noble mission -- that much is indisputable -- but victory belongs to the Webberleys of the world, not the Beauchamps.'

PBS "NewsHour', 24 Aug 07, Judy Woodruff et al
Advocates Launch Iraq War Ad Campaigns
'Liberal and conservative organizations have launched multi-million dollar advertising campaigns to pressure members of Congress to support their positions on the Iraq war. Representatives from both camps present their views.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 28 Aug 07
Saudi government bans leading Arab paper
'Saudi Arabia's government has banned the influential Arab newspaper Al Hayat from distribution in the kingdom, just days after it published an article that a Saudi man had served as a key figure for an al-Qaida front group in Iraq, journalists and diplomats said Tuesday.'

Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Summer 07, by Rami G. Khouri
The Arab Story: The Big One Waiting to Be Told
'How do journalists make the lives and aspirations of Arab men and women who will not succumb to criminality or terror relevant to Western audiences?'

Nieman Foundation for Journalism, Summer 07
Islam: Reporting in Context and with Complexity
A collection of articles by some of today's most prominent journalists.

Washington Post, 10 Aug 07, by Charles Krauthammer
The Baghdad Fabulist
'... After some commentators and soldiers raised questions about the plausibility of [Beauchamp's] tales, both the Army and the New Republic investigated. The Army issued a statement saying flatly that the stories were false. The New Republic claims that it had corroboration from unnamed soldiers. The Weekly Standard quoted an anonymous military source as saying that Beauchamp himself signed a statement recanting what he had written.'

Middle East Media Research Institute, 19 Jul 07
The Enemy Within: Where Are the Islamist/Jihadist Websites Hosted, and What Can Be Done about It?
'The jihadist terrorist organizations utilize the Internet for two main purposes: for operational needs, and for indoctrination and da'wa (propagation of Islam).'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 19 Jul 07
Russian minister withdraws article from U.S. magazine, claiming censorship
'The [Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry] said in a statement that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had canceled plans to publish the piece in the journal Foreign Affairs, published by the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations. It said Lavrov's article on U.S.-Russia relations had been cut substantially and revised to the point of distorting and censoring his views.'

National Review Online 'The Tank', 15 Jun 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
War Reporting - Part 1
'It seems even war-news reporting at all levels — from how little it takes for war to be deemed a failed effort, to how much we have to accomplish before it is deemed a successful effort, to what is in fact worthy battlefield news — reflects this reality of what we perceive war to be.'

National Review Online 'The Tank', 16 Jun 07, by W. Thomas Smith Jr.
War Reporting - Part 2
'In terms of news stories, why do we continue to share what perhaps should not be shared with the entire world (which also means the enemy)?'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 May 07, by Dante Chinni
Media's hand in the Iraq war
'A few months ago ... I wrote about Bill Roggio, a blogger who covers US military campaigns, as an example of an online counterpoint to the mainstream media (MSM) coverage of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Roggio offers a more positive view of the military campaigns. ...'

BeirutSpring.com, 23 May 07
Why Many Lebanese Are Shunning Aljazeera
'The latest wave of Lebanese to shun Aljazeera didn't do so because of distaste of free media. They have simply had it with their biases.'

Christian Science Monitor, 24 May 07, by Fred Weir
In Russia, 'space for journalism is narrow'
'Critics say Putin's regime stifles dissent in the press.'

Washington Post, 22 May 07, by Howard Kurtz
Shrapnel Slows, But Doesn't Stop CBS Reporter
'As the daughter of a World War II veteran, Kimberly Dozier always had a special feeling about Memorial Day. Her father was wounded during the assault on Iwo Jima, and was one of only two survivors in his 73-man unit. So when the CBS correspondent arrived in Baghdad for another tour of duty shortly before Memorial Day last year, she wanted to chronicle how American troops were spending the day.'

Marines.mil, 10 May 07, by Lance Cpl. William A. Rooks, 2nd Marine Logistics Group
Can I quote you on that?
'How many Marines normally man the gate? How long do they stay at the gate? How many Marines are in the compound? While deployed, Marines could find themselves fielding questions such as these from reporters who do not always understand military protocol and procedures, and a seemingly harmless question could be information the enemy can use. So the question remains of how will these Marines answer these important questions still representing the organization they serve as safely as possible.'

Slate, 09 May 07, by Phillip Carter
Literary Battle Fatigue
'In the name of "operations security," the Army established new regulations last month that sharply restrict the content of letters, e-mails, blogs, and articles written by military personnel, and require a security review before they can be published.'

Spokesman Review, 14 May 07
New rules mean uncertain future for soldier blogs
'Revised U.S. Army regulations have sparked an online firefight over blogs by active-duty soldiers, but the real-world impact on military bloggers won't be known until the battle smoke clears.'

The Times (London), 15 May 07, by Ben Hoyle
Blogs of war win gunner top prize
'A grunt's eye view of the War in Iraq has won the world's only prize for blogs that have been turned into books.'

American Forces Press Service, 09 May 07, by David Mays
Pentagon Channel Documentary Focuses on Futuristic Military Technology
'On a military installation near Dayton, Ohio, not far from where Orville and Wilbur Wright designed a powered aircraft that would be the first in history to successfully fly, scientists are working around the clock to develop amazing future technology for tomorrow's war fighters.'

Christian Science Monitor, 15 May 07, by Michael J. Jordan
Why there's little coverage of the Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan
'A reporter holds a restricted discussion with Uzbek colleagues, who have been effectively gagged by the country's president.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 14 May 07
Kate Webb, pioneering journalist of the Vietnam war, dies
'Kate Webb, a pioneering journalist whose powerful reputation was forged on the front lines of the Vietnam war and endured almost 35 years of reporting strife throughout Asia, has died, her family said. She was 64.'

International Herald Tribune, 07 May 07, by Abdul Waheed Wafa and Carlotta Gall
Kabul is moving to curb independent news media
'The government of Afghanistan, competing with the Taliban for public support and trying to fend off accusations that it is corrupt and ineffective, is moving to curb one of its own most impressive achievements: the country's flourishing independent news media.'

PBS 'Bill Moyer's Journal', 26 Apr 07
Buying the War
' "How mainstream journalists suspended skepticism and scrutiny remains an issue of significance that the media has not satisfactorily explored."'

NPR 'Fresh Air', 22 Mar 07, with Terry Gross
George Packer on the Betrayal of Working Iraqis
'Journalist George Packer's article in the March 26 issue of The New Yorker magazine is called "Betrayed: The Iraqis Who Trusted America the Most." He reports that men employed by Americans as interpreters, construction workers, drivers and office workers are now being marked for death and hunted down as collaborators.'

The New Yorker, 26 Mar 07 issue, by George Packer
Betrayed
'The Iraqis who trusted America the most.'

International Herald Tribune, 22 Mar 07, by Ian Fisher
Italy swapped 5 jailed Taliban for a hostage
'An Italian journalist who was held hostage for 15 days by the Taliban in lawless southern Afghanistan was ransomed for five Taliban prisoners, the Italian government and Afghan officials confirmed Wednesday.'

PBS 'NewsHour', 20 Mar 07, with Jeffrey Brown et al
Dangerous Conditions Constrain Journalism in Iraq
'As security conditions have deteriorated in Iraq, the country has become the most dangerous in the world for journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Two veteran reporters discuss the challenges of getting the story amid the violence.'

Christian Science Monitor, 22 Mar 07, by Stephanie Hanes
Backstory: Congolese radio show gives war victims a voice
'The talk show gives allows listeners to seek justice.'

Gulf News, 19 Mar 07
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston is 'OK'
'The British Broadcasting Corporation said Monday it has received assurances that correspondent Alan Johnston, kidnapped in the Gaza Strip a week ago, was "OK," but didn't know where he was being held.'

International Herald Tribune/AP, 10 Mar 07
U.S. military claims deletion of AP footage at attack site in Afghanistan justified
'The U.S. military asserted that an American soldier was justified in erasing journalists' footage of the aftermath of a suicide bombing and shooting in Afghanistan last week, saying publication could have compromised a military investigation and led to false public conclusions.'

Washington Post, 12 Mar 07, by Howard Kurtz
Brian Williams, Anchoring and Hunkering in Iraq
'Soon after arriving in Iraq, Brian Williams was listening to an Army colonel describe how much safer Ramadi had gotten when another soldier shouted that it was too dangerous to stand there and hustled them inside the military outpost.'

BBC News, 07 Mar 07
Iranian bloggers' nuclear gloom
'Iranian bloggers have been watching developments in the nuclear dispute with the West over the past few weeks with much foreboding, but also a fair measure of irreverence.'

International Herald Tribune, 06 Mar 07, by Doreen Carvajal
Murder becomes a tool against journalists
'Murder has emerged as one of the most efficient tools for silencing journalists who face more dangers in peacetime than on the battlefield, according to a new global study tracking fatalities of journalists and press staff over the last 10 years.'

Washington Post, 01 Mar 07, by Howard Kurtz
Cheney's Trip Renews Debate Over Attribution in News Accounts
'The reporters traveling with Vice President Cheney as he flew from Afghanistan to Oman yesterday were granted an interview with someone who would be identified only as a "senior administration official." But the official's identity would not remain a state secret for long.'

PBS 'Frontline,' Feb-Mar 07
News War
'A special four-part investigation into the future of the news.'

BBC News, 08 Feb 07, by Sebastian Usher
Row over Iraq's insurgency TV
'There is a diplomatic standoff between the US and Egypt over the hosting by a Cairo-based satellite provider of an Iraqi TV station that fiercely backs Sunni insurgents.'

Washington Post, 29 Jan 07, by Fred Hiatt
The Vanishing Foreign Correspondent
'... in an era when clan structures in Somalia or separatist movements in the Philippines may have a direct bearing on U.S. national security - when the people who run multinational companies such as GE regularly complain that Americans don't understand the world - we should all worry about who, if anyone, will report from abroad.'

The American Thinker, 22 Jan 07, by James Lewis
How the AP helped stoke civil war in Iraq
'The Associated Press is among the large news organizations whose reporting in Iraq has been challenged by bloggers. Beyond the specifics of any one incident, a certain pattern and practice of news gathering has made for systematic bias. The end result is propaganda.'

Washington Post, 22 Jan 07, by Karen DeYoung
Sunni-Shiite Fight Flares in Broadcasts
'TV, Internet Enable Iraq's Clashing Warriors to Reach Public Directly'

Christian Science Monitor, 17 Jan 07, by Sarah Gauch
Why is Egypt airing insurgent TV from Iraq?
'Al Zawraa's broadcasting of Sunni attacks on American soldiers highlights sectarian politics.'

International Herald Tribune, 17 Jan 07, by Judea Pearl
Another perspective, or jihad TV?
'... few, in the Middle East or the West, seem willing to condemn Al Jazeera's management for giving [influential Qatari cleric Sheik Yusuf al-Qaradawi] regular airtime. None of this might seem to matter much to Westerners except that for two months now Al Jazeera has been taking its mixture of news coverage and extremist propagandizing to our front door through an English-language station, Al Jazeera English.'