War Feels Like War a Film by Esteban Uyarra

P.O.V. Season 17 Discussion Guide War Feels Like War A Film by Esteban Uyarra

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Letter from the Filmmaker

LONDON, 2004

Dear Colleague,

Why did I make this film? To explore why people do certain things, why they have jobs with a moral "gray area." And few things have more of this gray area than a war zone. I was also interested in finding out how journalists lived once the cameras were turned off at night, what that life that we never see behind those daily photos or reports was like. What did I learn? I learned how inhumane the whole experience is. How uncomfortable it feels to be in a place where you don’t belong, and how you question yourself every day about why you are taking photos and making films instead of throwing down the camera and helping people. Also, I learned how easy it is to forget about all these dilemmas and just start shooting footage like everybody else, and how easy it is to convince yourself you are doing something worthy. I learned how hard most journalists work and how much they actually care. At the same time, I also Filmmaker Esteban Uyarra wittnessed how little some people from the big media Photo courtesy of the filmmaker channels care about what’s in front of their eyes. And I learned how addictive this profession can be; it can make you do things you never thought you could do. Later, when I went to Haiti, I learned how scared you can become the second time you go to a war zone as you remember the potential fears from the first experience. I learned how unjust wars are, for the civilians, the soldiers, and the journalists, too. I learned how normal the Iraqi people are, and how you can find humanity in all sides. I made War Feels Like War because I wanted to share what I learned. I hope that what intrigued me helps people explore how war really feels when you are there and not just reading, watching, or listening to a news report.

Esteban Uyarra War Feels Like War, Director

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Table of Contents Credits, Acknowledgements

4 Introduction Writer 5 Potential Partners Dr. Faith Rogow 5 Key Issues Insighters Educational Consulting 6 Background Information 6 Journalists We Meet in Producers War Feels Like War Cara Mertes 8 Using This Guide Executive Director, P.O.V. 8 Planning an Event Eliza Licht 9 Facilitating a Discussion Community Engagement Manager, P.O.V. 9 Preparing Yourself Theresa Riley 10 Preparing the Group Director of P.O.V. Interactive 11 General Discussion Questions Design: Rafael Jiménez 12 Discussion Prompts Copyeditor: Amy Vinchesi 15 Taking Action 16 Resources Thanks to those who contributed 19 How to Buy the Film and / or reviewed this guide: Sonya Shah Community Outreach Supervisor, KQED

Sarah Brownrigg Associate Producer, War Feels Like War

Alison Rooper Executive Producer, War Feels Like War

Esteban Uyarra Director, War Feels Like War

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Introduction

War Feels Like War, is a compelling account of the democracy, the film also offer viewers an opportunity to brutalities of modern war told through the eyes of think deeply about the importance of accurate and independent journalists. The hour-long film documents comprehensive reporting to the ability to make decisions the lives of American and European reporters and as citizens. photographers who were not embedded with the U.S. military. As the invading armies sweep into the country, some of the journalists in Kuwait decide to risk their lives to travel in their wake, hungry to discover the true impact of war on civilians. Using a small digital camera, filmmaker Esteban Uyarra records their frustration, fear, shock and horror as they work their way around military control to get access to the real Iraq War. As they make their way to Baghdad, the journalists witness a side of the war that embedded media did not cover: chaos on the streets and the fear and panic in the eyes of U.S. marines as they struggle to take on the Iraqi resistance. By following the journalists as they worked, and by interviewing them, A U.S. soldier during the U.S. invasion of Iraq often as they were working, War Feels Like War also reveals the addictive nature of modern war reporting— how it affects journalists personally and how hard it is to return to a normal life back home. As the reporters and photographers make on-the-spot decisions, viewers and journalists alike are challenged to consider the ethical dilemmas involved in covering a war. Because the journalists are covering a war being waged by a

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Potential Partners Key Issues

War Feels Like War is well suited for use in a variety of War Feels Like War is an excellent tool for dialogue because settings and is especially recommended for use with: it provides a variety of situations and responses. It will be of special interest to people interested in exploring or working • Your local PBS station on the issues below: • Local media foreign policy • Groups focused on any of the issues listed above journalism • Groups related to the military media literacy (families, veterans, etc.) military • Faith-based organizations news • Academic departments and student groups at colleges, universities, community colleges, peace studies and high schools • Community organizations with a mission to promote education and learning such as P.O.V.’s national partners Elderhostel Learning in Retirement Centers, members of the Listen Up! Youth Media Network, or your local library

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Background Information

Journalists We Meet in War Feels Like War

P.J. O’Rourke – reporter & announcer, Steffen Knudsen – reporter, DR TV, Bengt Kristianson – reporter, NRK TV, ABC Radio, USA Denmark Norway

Jan Kruse – reporter, NRK TV, Norway Stephanie Sinclair – photographer, Jacez Czarnecki – reporter, Radio Zet, Chicago Tribune, USA Poland

Marco Di Lauro – photographer, Getty Images

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Background Information

The War in Iraq and the Innovation of Embedded Journalists

On March 19, 2003, the United States began a military attack on Iraq that ultimately toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. At its peak, the United States had about 150,000 troops in Iraq. After the primary military battles were over, troop size was reduced to 135,000 at a cost of approximately $4 billion per month.

(Source: BBC - www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/war- feels-like-war.shtml)

In this war, the U.S. Armed Forces utilized a new concept: “embedded” journalists. Journalists were provided with basic safety training (e.g., how to put on a gas mask) and assigned to battalions with whom they remained throughout the conflict. This meant that journalists were on the front lines with the troops. It also meant that journalists were dependent on the U.S. military for food, shelter, protection, and transportation. Photographers take pictures of U.S. military Journalists got to know the soldiers with whom they were forces arresting a Fedayeen suspect in Tikrit, Iraq embedded, which allowed them to tell their stories but also might have influenced decisions about which stories to tell in the same way that it can be difficult to report dispassionately about friends or family.

Because places for embedded journalists were limited, and because some journalists believed that being attached to a military battalion was a conflict of interest, some reporters, photographers, and videographers chose to try to cover the war without being embedded. War Feels Like War is about these journalists. The film calls them “independent” to differentiate them from journalists who were “embedded.” That does not mean they were freelance. Most were on the payroll of major news outlets.

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Using This Guide

This guide is designed to help you use War Feels Like War as the centerpiece of a community event. It contains suggestions for convening an event as well as ideas for how to help participants think more deeply about the issues in the film. The discussion questions are designed for a very wide range of audiences. Rather than attempt to address them all, choose one or two that best meet the needs and interests of your group.

Planning an Event

In addition to showcasing documentary films as an art form, screenings of P.O.V. films can be used to present information, get people interested in taking action on an issue, provide opportunities for people from different groups or perspectives to exchange views, and/or create space for reflection. Using the questions below as a planning checklist will help ensure a high-quality/high- impact event.

• Have you defined your goals? With your partner(s), set realistic goals. Will you host a single event or engage in an ongoing project? Being clear about your goals will make it much easier to structure the event, target publicity, and evaluate results.

• Does the way you are planning to structure the event fit your goals? Do you need an outside facilitator, translator, or sign language interpreter? If your goal is to share information, are there local experts on the topic who should be present? How large an audience do you want? (Large groups are appropriate for information exchanges. Small groups allow for more intensive dialogue.)

• Have you arranged to involve all stakeholders? It is especially important that people be allowed to speak for themselves. If your group is planning to take action that affects people other than those present, how will you give voice to those not in the room?

• Is the event being held in a space where all participants will feel equally comfortable? Is it wheelchair accessible? Is it in a part of town that’s easy to reach by various kinds of transportation? If you are bringing together different constituencies, is it neutral territory? Does the physical configuration allow for the kind of discussion you hope to have?

• Will the room setup help you meet your goals? Is it comfortable? If you intend to have a discussion, can people see one another? Are there spaces to use for small breakout groups? Can everyone easily see the screen and hear the film?

• Have you scheduled time to plan for action? Planning next steps can help people leave the room feeling energized and optimistic, even if the discussion has been difficult. Action steps are especially important for people who already have a good deal of experience talking about the issue(s) on the table. For those who are new to the issue(s), just engaging in public discussion serves as an action step.

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Using This Guide

Facilitating a Discussion Finding a Facilitator

Controversial or unusual topics often make for excellent discussions. By their nature, those same topics also give Some university professors, human resource profes- rise to deep emotions and strongly held beliefs. As a sionals, clergy, and youth leaders may be specially trained facilitator, you can create an atmosphere where people in facilitation skills. In addition to these local resources, feel safe, encouraged, and respected, making it more likely groups such as the National Conference for Community that they will be willing to share openly and honestly. and Justice (www.nccj.org) may be able to help identify or Here’s how: provide qualified facilitators.

Preparing Yourself

Identify your own hot-button issues. View the film before your event and give yourself time to reflect so you aren’t dealing with raw emotions at the same time that you are trying to facilitate a discussion. Be knowledgeable. You don’t need to be an expert on journalism, Iraq, or military policy to facilitate a discussion, but knowing the basics can help you keep a discussion on track and gently correct misstatements of fact. In addition to the Background Information section above, you may want to take a look at the suggested websites in the Resources section on p.16. Be clear about your role. You may find yourself taking on several roles for an event, e.g., host, organizer, projectionist. If you are also planning to serve as facilitator, be sure that you can focus on that responsibility and avoid distractions during the discussion. Keep in mind that being a facilitator is not the same as being a teacher. A teacher’s job is to convey specific information. In contrast, a facilitator remains neutral, helping move along the discussion without imposing their views on the dialogue Know your group. Issues can play out very differently for different groups of people. Is your group new to the issue or have they dealt with it before? Factors like geography, age, race, religion, and socioeconomic class can all have an impact on comfort levels, speaking styles, and prior knowledge. If you are bringing together different segments of your community, we strongly recommend hiring an experienced facilitator.

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Using This Guide

Preparing the Group

Consider how well group members know one another. If you are bringing together people who have never met, you may want to devote some time at the beginning of the event for introductions. Agree to ground rules around language. Involve the group in establishing some basic rules to ensure respect and aid clarity. Typically such rules include no yelling or use of slurs and asking people to speak in the first person (“I think….”) rather than generalizing for others (“Everyone knows that…”). Ensure that everyone has an opportunity to be heard. Be clear about how people will take turns or indicate that they want to speak. Plan a strategy for preventing one or two people from dominating the discussion. If the group is large, are there plans to break into small groups or partners, or should attendance be limited? After the invasion, Iraqis fight for food aid unloaded by Red Crescent in Safwan Talk about the difference between dialogue and debate. In a debate, participants try to convince others that they are right. In a dialogue, participants try to understand each other and expand their thinking by sharing viewpoints and listening to each other actively. Remind people that they are engaged in a dialogue. Encourage active listening. Ask the group to think of the event as being about listening, as well as discussing. Participants can be encouraged to listen for things that challenge as well as reinforce their own ideas. You may also consider asking people to practice formal “active listening,” where participants listen without interrupting the speaker, then re-phrase to see if they have heard correctly. Remind participants that everyone sees through the lens of their own experience. Who we are influences how we interpret what we see. So everyone in the group may have a different view about the content and meaning of the film they have just seen, and all of them may be accurate. It can help people to understand one another’s perspectives if people identify the evidence on which they base their opinion as well as share their views. Take care of yourself and group members. If the intensity level rises, pause to let everyone take a deep breath. You might also consider providing a safe space to “vent,” perhaps with a partner or in a small group of familiar faces. If you anticipate that people may be upset, be prepared to refer them to local support agencies and/or have local profes- sionals present. Be sure to make it clear whether or not members of the press are present and whether comments are “on the record” or there is a reasonable expectation that requests for confidentiality will be honored.

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 General Discussion Questions

The conflict in Iraq is still very immediate for many people, increasing the likelihood that their responses may be raw or intense. You don’t want to suppress passion, but you do want participants to be thoughtful as well as emotional, to reflect and not just react. So, immediately after the film, you may want to give people a few quiet moments to reflect on what they have seen or pose a general question and give people some time to themselves to jot down or think about their answers before opening the discussion.

Unless you think participants are so uncomfortable that they can’t engage until they have had a break, don’t encourage people to leave the room between the film and the discussion. If you save your break for an appropriate moment during the discussion, you won’t lose the feeling of the film as you begin your dialogue.

One way to get a discussion going is to pose a general question, such as

• If you could ask anyone in the film a single question, who would you ask and what would you ask them? • What insights or new knowledge did you gain from this film? Did what you learned surprise you? Jacek Czarnecki, an experienced radio journalist from • Two months from now, what do you think you will Poland, works without a helmet or a bulletproof vest on his way toward Baghdad remember from this film and why?

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Discussion Prompts

SHAPING THE MESSAGE good story, was best we’ve done here.” Why do you think Kruse emphasized the importance of “very, very strong emotions”? • Radio announcer and reporter P.J. O’Rourke comments, How do emotional presentations clarify or obscure the facts? “The military basically loves having these embeds ‘cause they know exactly where they are, you know, that they got them on a • P.J. O’Rourke reports on the evacuation of 60 journalists short leash, and then they got us back here and we’re just a from Safwan, saying, “I guess it hasn’t actually been the bunch of pests, you know … so they think this is probably a good mademoiselles rushing out from the cafes of France and place to keep us as scud bait.” Why might the military “love” kissing and hugging the soldiers.” Who sets the expectations the embedded reporters but consider independent reporters to for what a conflict will be like? What were your expectations of be “pests”? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the war in Iraq? Where did your expectations come from? being embedded? What are the advantages and disadvantages • Stephanie Sinclair observes, “I’m not used to this stuff of being independent? How do you think the reports sent home yet. There are a lot of photographers out here who are definitely by embedded and independent journalists differ? used to this. I’m not one of them.” Whose pictures would • Bengt Kristianson runs to file a report because he has interest you more—a seasoned but aloof journalist or a new but bought satellite time and has only a five-minute window to send compassionate one? Why? How do you think a veteran and a his report to Norway. How do deadline pressures influence new journalist might differ in their coverage of events? what and how things are reported? How do technology • We rarely know anything about the photographers whose requirements influence stories (i.e., needing to be someplace pictures we see in newspapers and magazines. How does it feel where you can find a phone)? to get to know Stephanie Sinclair? How does it influence the • Compare coverage of the war in Iraq to reporting on past way you look at the pictures in the news sources you read or wars. From what you can remember, what differences do you watch? notice? How do things like place, military policy on embedding • Sinclair reflects on her experience, saying, “No matter reporters with troops, and/or new technologies make reporting what it does to us as journalists, it’s nothing compared to what now different from reporting in the past? it does, what this is doing, to these people who are caught in the • Compare radio to television or photojournalism. What middle of it all. It’s all a matter of perspective.” How has the kinds of conditions does each need to do its job well? Does reporting on the war influenced your perspective? Has typical each tell a substantially different story? Can any of them tell a coverage in American media conveyed the sense of suffering good story from Kuwait City (i.e., away from the action)? Why or that Sinclair is trying to describe? Do you feel like you are living why not? in a nation at war?

• Why are the reporters annoyed at being shown mail • Did anything you saw in War Feels Like War challenge or delivery operations for the U.S. troops? Is this the story you change what you think about the U.S.-led war in Iraq? want? • What is a “free press” and why is it important to • Jan Kruse (on people fighting over food): “From a democracy? What did you learn about a “free press” from the journalistic point of view, it makes good pictures. We are film? cynical, we have to admit it, [it makes a] good picture when people are as desperate like that because it’s real. It’s great TV. It’s human suffering, it’s tears, desperation, whatever, feelings, emotions—very, very strong emotions—and was a fantastic

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Discussion Prompts

ETHICS POLICIES AND THE CHALLENGES OF • Why should locals consider reporters neutral when they COVERING WAR come from countries involved in the conflict?

• What responsibilities should soldiers or government • Stephanie Sinclair tells a soldier, “We’re not allowed to officials take for reporters? Who is responsible to keep carry guns.” Why don’t journalists carry guns? Do you think this journalists safe? policy makes them safer?

• At one point, photographer Stephanie Sinclair joins a • Stephanie reflects on the ethics of filming a funeral and British convoy. Should journalists be allowed to go wherever wonders how she would react to a journalist at a funeral of they please, or do they have some responsibility to stay out of someone she loved. Do you think journalists should photograph the way? Should combatants guarantee reporters special funerals? If you had to choose, which is more important: a rights? Who should guarantee these rights? Do journalists have family’s desire to grieve in private or a nation’s need to see the an unlimited right to free speech, or are there limitations that “huge negative consequence of war”? are reasonable to impose in a war? • Stephanie talks about being happy to encounter dead and • Why did it take these journalists two weeks to get across injured people and really gross “hardcore” stuff, because that the border from Kuwait into Iraq? What difference do you think makes for good pictures and a good story. At the same time, it made in the coverage you saw that for the first two weeks, the she says it is twisted to feel happy at such moments. How do only reports coming from embedded reporters? you think this kind of dilemma shapes a person’s perspective of the events about which he or she reports? If you were a • Stephanie Sinclair expresses frustration at having to reporter, how would you deal with the ethical dilemma of “schmooz” with people to get a story or get the help she needs: needing bad things to happen in order for you to do your job “It’s all about being nice, and it’s not that I don’t want to be nice, well? I love people, but it’s like you shouldn’t have to charm people into doing something for you; they should feel that what you are • Several reporters talk about whether a graphic photo of doing is important.” Why might locals want to be “schmoozed”? people dead or injured would be shown in a British newspaper. Or demand money? Why might they not share a journalist’s If you were an editor, how graphic would you get? What kinds of sense of what is and isn’t important? criteria would you weigh in making your decision? The importance of conveying the horrors of war? The privacy or • How might the presence of reporters alter an event? At dignity of the dead or injured and their families? The one point, a Marine asks Sinclair and fellow journalists if they sensibilities of viewers or readers? The potential for desensi- have a way of contacting the hospital for an ambulance. Should tizing people to the horror? she get involved? Why or why not? If you were a journalist, where would you draw the line between remaining an observer • Journalist Inigo Gilmore says, “If you watched Fox [News] and helping people in need of aid? throughout the conflict, it would seem like a home movie, you know, a sanitized home movie. It barely ever mentioned any • If a reporter simply conveys what he or she sees, is that civilian casualties in the whole war.” Do you want your news to enough? What information might be missing from such show civilian casualties? Why or why not? Should the rules reports? How might a reporter get additional information? How governing coverage of civilian casualties be different than the is a reporter’s ability to find trustworthy sources influenced by rules for reporting military casualties? If so, why? If you were his or her ability to speak the language? Religion? Gender? a news director, what guidelines would you provide to your staff Race? National identity? regarding coverage of the two groups?

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Discussion Prompts

BEING A JOURNALIST • Newcomer Stephanie Sinclair asks veteran journalist Marco Di Lauro: “So you think in five years I’m gonna be a • Based on what you see in the film, write a detailed job different person?” Marco, who claims he was a nicer person description for a journalist covering a war. What do they have when he started ten years ago, answers, “You will be like all the to be willing to do? others, you will be ready to kill another photographer for a • Jan Kruse says, “We are not willing to go around the cross better picture like everyone else.” How would you answer point. That’s, in our opinion, too dangerous. We are not paid to Stephanie’s question? How do you think her experiences take such risks.” So journalists try to minimize the risk, but at covering Iraq might change her? some point all the journalists in War Feels Like War put themselves in mortal danger. Why do you think these reporters are willing to risk their lives to get the story? What would you risk your life for?

• In the film, we see journalists take fire, wonder about missing colleagues, grieve for friends who have been killed, watch the Palestine Hotel (the headquarters for most journalists) be bombed by U.S. troops, worry about armed bandits, struggle to find safe places to stay, and more. Of all the things you saw, which do you think is the hardest for a journalist to deal with and why?

• Jacek Czarnecki says, “I have no wife, I have no children, nobody wants someone who every year spends a few months somewhere in a conflict. Family doesn’t understand why you go.” In what ways do the journalists’ experiences separate them from their families? In what ways does that separation help them do their jobs? In what ways does it hinder them?

• Stephanie Sinclair says of being a war journalist, “You will A U.S. soldier during the U.S. invasion of Iraq have to be prepared to see a lot of dead bodies. The big thing is, I don’t want to ever become hard. I think it’s going to be a • Recent polls in the U.S. indicate that the general public problem if I ever become the type of person who doesn’t mind does not currently hold journalists in high esteem. After seeing seeing dead people. It should always bother you.” How is , what is your opinion of journalists? Do you Sinclair’s dilemma different from and similar to what a soldier War Feels Like War believe that journalists tend to be biased? If so, what kinds of experiences? Why do you think it is important to Sinclair not to factors create that bias? “become hard”? What kinds of things might she do to prevent becoming desensitized? How does her ability to feel influence her ability to report?

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Taking Action

Put yourself in the role of voter. Make a list of all the key things you need to know. Put yourself in the role of reporter. Make a list of all the key information you want to deliver to your editor. Compare the two lists. What is the same and what is different? Use the lists as a basis to meet with local media represen- tatives about how they might better provide citizens in your community with the information they need.

Like a book group, create a discussion group to meet and analyze news reports about the war.

For a two-week period, record and compare reporting on several news networks. Then share your results in a letter to Filmmaker Esteban Uyarra Photo by Stephanie Sinclair the editor, a magazine article, a discussion group, a sermon, a weblog, etc.

The Federal Communications Commission is charged with making media policy. Investigate how FCC regulations do or don’t serve the public interest. Make suggestions to improve existing policies, make new policies, or enforce current rules that guarantee that media provide citizens with the information they need to make informed decisions when they vote.

Based on the complex situations you have seen in War Feels Like War, imagine that you are responsible to train journalists and write a set of ethics guidelines for your students to follow. Arrange to meet with journalism students at a local college or university. Share your guidelines. As an alternative, imagine that you are a general and write a set of guidelines for how soldiers should treat journalists. Arrange a discussion with ROTC to find out how they are trained to treat journalists and share your guidelines.

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Resources

Websites What’s Your P.O.V.?

P.O.V.’s War Feels Like War Website P.O.V.’s online Talking Back Tapestry is a colorful, www.pbs.org/pov/warfeelslikewar interactive representation of your feelings about War Feels Like War. Listen to other P.O.V. viewers talk about the film and add your thoughts by calling 1-800-688-4768. General Overview www.pbs.org/pov/talkingback.html Film Update

Catch up with some of the reporters from War Feels Like War, including photojournalist Stephanie Sinclair, who remained in Iraq after the film and wrote to P.O.V. while on assignment in Afghanistan.

Covering the War in Iraq from All the Angles

Los Angeles Times Foreign Editor Marjorie Miller talks about the challenges of covering a war half a world away and what differences she sees in the reporting from embedded and independent journalists on the ground in Iraq.

The Myth of War Veteran war correspondent Chris Hedges explains the seductive nature of war and the risks of giving in to its mythology in this excerpt from the acclaimed book, “War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning."

Resources Find out more about the history of war reporting, find the best coverage of the Iraq War online, and explore other related PBS and NPR programs and websites.

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Resources

BBC WAR FEELS LIKE WAR SITE wide variety of journalism tools, including easy links to online www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/war- newspapers and contact information for TV and radio stations feels-like-war.shtml around the world. The site for the BBC’s broadcast of the film includes an interview with filmmaker Esteban Uyarra, as well as links to more information by and about the journalists featured in War NOW: BILL MOYERS TALKS WITH CHRIS HEDGES Feels Like War. www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_hedges.html This link is to a Bill Moyers interview with Chris Hedges, author of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Hedges, an experienced IN FOCUS PRODUCTIONS journalist who has covered a variety of conflicts, argues that www.infocusproductions.co.uk war becomes addictive for soldiers and journalists. The production company’s site, In Focus Productions, has more information on the film and the characters. In Focus Productions is an independent television production company DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE’S OFFICIAL POLICY ON based in London which specializes in documentaries for EMBEDDED MEDIA broadcast in Britain and abroad. www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2003/d20030228pag.pdf A link to the Department of Defense’s official policy on embedded media. You might also go to the DOD’s homepage to POYNTER INSTITUTE compare their news releases about the war in Iraq with the www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=20231 kinds of stories you see in War Feels Like War. The Poynter Institute trains journalists. Its website includes general resources about ethics, accuracy, and techniques. This link is to an area of the website specifically featuring issues in CYBERJOURNALIST.NET covering the war in Iraq. Great Iraq Conflict Coverage www.cyberjournalist.net/great_iraq_conflict_coverage This roundup of great reporting on Iraq is a good place to stop MEDIACHANNEL in and see some of the creative things editors and Web http://www.mediachannel.org/news/2004-0322.shtml producers are doing online MediaChannel is a media watchdog. Their site compiles many articles by and about journalists covering the U.S. war in Iraq. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: THE HISTORY OF WAR JOURNALISM COLUMBIA JOURNALISM REVIEW www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1211831 www.cjr.org/issues/2003/3/standard-smith.asp With the help of retired Navy Capt. Brayton Harris, who has This link to an article by PBS’s Newshour correspondent written about the history of war reporting, NPR’s Robert Siegel Terence Smith summarizes many of the issues related to traces the ever-increasing speed with which news reports from embedded journalists in Iraq. A search on the word “embed” the front lines have been brought to the public. Siegel follows from the homepage of the Columbia Journalism Review will war-reporting history from the Mexican War through the 1991 link to many other articles. The CJR also provides links to a Gulf War. (March 28, 2003)

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 Resources

NPR: WAR IN IRAQ: PUBLIC RADIO COVERAGE AND WEB LOGS www.npr.org/news/specials/iraq2003/blogs.html#blogs This collection of stories relate to the war in Iraq and how technology has changed some of the rules of reporting. (2003)

ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: EMBEDDED IN IRAQ: 'IN THE COMPANY OF SOLDIERS' www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1800363 NPR’s Melissa Block talks with Pulitzer prize-winning author Rick Atkinson about his latest book, In the Company of Soldiers, in which he chronicles the 101st Airborne Division’s time in Iraq last year. Atkinson, a reporter for The Washington Post, was embedded with the division and had complete access to the division’s commander, Maj. Gen. David Petraeus. (March 29, 2004)

MORNING EDITION: JOURNALISTS DEBATE MEDIA'S ROLE IN IRAQ WAR http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1356997 Journalists from Britain and the United States gathered in New York for a conference on the media’s role in the Iraq war. They debated whether embedded journalists were good for journalism, and whether U.S. reporters had asked enough questions of the government prior to the war. NPR’s Rick Karr reports. (July 25, 2003)

ON THE MEDIA: DISPATCH FROM AN EMBED www.wnyc.org/onthemedia/transcripts/ transcripts_030703_embed.html Read transcripts or listen to streaming audio of this six-part series where On the Media host Brooke Gladstone interviews NPR’s John Burnett, a reporter embedded with the headquarters command of the First Marine Division. (March 2003).

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Discussion Guide | War Feels Like War

Season 17 How to Buy the Film

To buy or rent War Feels Like War, go to www.tv2sales.com

Now entering its 17th season on American Documentary, Inc. PBS, P.O.V. is the first and www.americandocumentary.org longest-running series on American Documentary, Inc. (AmDoc) is a multimedia company television to feature the work of dedicated to creating, identifying, and presenting contemporary stories America’s most innovative independent documentary storytellers. that express opinions and perspectives rarely featured in mainstream Bringing over 200 award-winning films to millions nationwide, and now media outlets. Through two divisions, P.O.V. and Active Voice, AmDoc is a new Web-only series, P.O.V.’s Borders, P.O.V. has pioneered the art of a catalyst for public culture developing collaborative strategic presentation and outreach using independent non-fiction media to engagement activities around socially relevant content on television, build new communities in conversation about today’s most pressing online, and in community settings. These activities are designed to social issues. trigger action, from dialogue and feedback to educational opportunities Major funding for P.O.V. is provided by the John D. and Catherine T. and community participation. MacArthur Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, the Educational Foundation of America, PBS and public television viewers. Funding for P.O.V.’s Borders (www.pbs.org/pov) is provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Support for P.O.V. is provided by Starbucks Coffee Company. P.O.V. is presented by a consortium of public television stations including KCET/Los Angeles, WGBH/Boston, and WNET/New York. Cara Mertes is executive director of P.O.V., which is a division of American Documentary, Inc.

P.O.V. Interactive www.pbs.org/pov

P.O.V.’s award-winning Web department produces our Web-only showcase for interactive storytelling, P.O.V.’s Borders. It also produces a website for every P.O.V. presentation, extending the life of P.O.V. films through community-based and educational applications, focusing on involving viewers in activities, information, and feedback on the issues. In addition, www.pbs.org/pov houses our unique Talking Back feature, filmmaker interviews and viewer resources, and information on the P.O.V. archives as well as a myriad of special sites for previous P.O.V. broadcasts.

All Photos courtesy Uyarra Films except as noted.

Front cover photo: Stephanie Sinclair, a photojournalist for the Chicago Tribune, is told to continue toward Baghdad at her own risk by U.S. military forces days after the U.S. invasion of Iraq