Plus: Good-bye Southam News. Hello CanWest News Service.. LIFE AND DEATH DURING THE AMERICAN INVASION OF IRAQ How much of the real story did journalists covering the conflict really obtain? THE CANADIAN ASSOCIATION OF JOURNALISTS SPRING 2003 • VOLUME 10, NUMBER 1 • $3.95 L’ASSOCIATION CANADIENNE DES JOURNALISTES– Spring 2003 Volume 10, Number 1 Publisher Nick Russell INSIDE Editor David McKie Books Editor DEPARTMENTS Gillian Steward 4 First Word Did the truth take a beating during the Iraq conflict? Legal Advisor By David McKie Peter Jacobsen 5 JournalismNet Ever wonder about the individuals responsible for controversial Web sites? There’s a way to (Paterson McDougall) satisfy that curiosity. Designer By Julian Sher Bonanza Printing & Copying Centre COVER STORIES Printer 6 To Embed or Not to Embed The recent Iraq conflict raised ethical questions about the independence of journalists who Bonanza Printing & Copying Centre were allowed to get close to the action — really close. By Stephen J.A.Ward Editorial Board 8 It Isn’t a War The Iraq conflict was really an American-Anglo invasion. Chris Cobb, Wendy McLellan, By Lesley Hughes Sean Moore, 10 Minding the Mind The trauma of covering wars can be too much for some journalists to take, in which case a Catherine Ford, visit to the counsellor is nothing to be ashamed of. Elaine Shein, Michelle MacAfee, By Saleem Khan Linda Goyette, 13 Getting it Wrong The way Alberta’s antiwar protesters were portrayed in media reports exposed disturbing John Gushue, misperceptions about the country’s regional differences. Carolyn Ryan By Mark Lisac Advertising Sales 15 The Story Behind the Pictures Photographer, Phill Snel, gives the low-down on some of the most infamous photographs John Dickins during the American-led invasion — including a doctored image that led to the dismissal of Administrative Director an L.A. Times photographer. John Dickins (613)526-8061 Fax: (613)521-3904 E-mail: [email protected] FEATURES MEDIA is published three times 18 The Article of Dissent The political leaders in China want to bring down the hammer with a law called Article 23, a year by: which, if implemented, will severely restrict press freedom in Hong Kong. Canadian Association of By Robert Scalia Journalists St. Patrick's Building, 316B Carleton University 1125 20 Article of Dissent – Part Two Journalists in Hong Kong may abandon investigative journalism in favour of government- Colonel By Drive Ottawa, Ontario, friendly, innocuous stories. Canada K1S 5B6 By Joel Ruimy Reproduction without the written 21 You’re Biased. The age-old debate over coverage in the Middle East has arisen once again, this time with the permission of the publisher is No, You’re Biased spotlight trained on the CBC. strictly forbidden By Karim H. Karim Media is a publication of the 23 Talk Back The former CBC Television Middle East correspondent, Neil MacDonald, takes on his critics. Canadian Association of Journalists. It is managed and edited indepen- dently from the CAJ and its contents do not necessarily reflect the views of DEPARTMENTS the Association. 24 Diary CTV Newsnet anchor Ellin Bessner was settling in for a nice vacation in Florida — that is, Subscriptions: $14.98 (GST incl.) per year, until the space shuttle exploded. payable in advance 27 Computer-Assisted Reporting CAR is gaining momentum. Indexed in the Canadian By Fred Vallance-Jones Periodical Index. 28 Books Briefly A new novel about life in the newsroom delves into some uncomfortable truths. Canada Post Publications Canadian Mail Sales Product Agreement No. Reviewed by Gillian Steward 182796 ISSN 1198-2209 29 Review The War Correspondent as Hero and Myth Maker from Crimea to Kosovo, Phillip Knightley and John Pilger. Reviewed by Gillian Steward Cover Photo REUTERS/Stephen Hird 30 The Last Word Tim Creery, former Southam News employee, uses the service’s last night of existence to reminisce. MEDIA, SPRING 2003 PAGE 3 FIRST WORD BY DAVID MCKIE Taking Stock The recent conflict in Iraq raised some age-old questions about the truth and how accurately it gets reported s soon as it became clear that the U.S.-British tentious issue of embedding: that is, allowing a select suggests that during conflicts, it’s important for military intervention in Iraq had led to the group of journalists to travel with the soldiers for a media outlets to balance reports from embedded Aeasier-than-expected downfall of Baghdad, birds-eye view of the carnage.As he explains,embed- reporters with stories that contain dispassionate discussions seemed to intensify about the way the ding was the American military’s attempt to deal analysis and context for which Steinbeck so hun- conflict was covered. Journalism listservs in Canada with criticism; it used pools during the first Iraqi gered. and the United States crackled with criticisms and conflict to unduly restrict the movement of journal- The criticisms of Steinbeck and Ward are not opinions about the nature of the conflict. Was it a ists. While the idea of embedding is as old as war meant to imply that all stories from embedded war? What was the real purpose? Were the Americans itself,the idea nonetheless sparked a lot of discussion reporters were tainted. Indeed, some of those dis- ever serious about finding chemical weapons,or were among journalists. In his piece, Ward notes: patches have given us useful glimpses into the true concerns about weapons of mass destruction just “Embedding adds information that might otherwise and nasty nature of war. In his articles, it was decoys, designed to distract citizens from George W. not be obtained…But embedding can undermine observed that Steinbeck offered useful observations Bush’s real aim: ridding the world of Saddam journalistic independence and erode media credibil- and touching stories about military life and the Hussein, a task his father failed to accomplish the ity.It can lead to unbalanced, de-contextualized jour- exploits of incredible men such as the U.S. Navy offi- previous decade. nalism.” cer in Italy who tricked a garrison of German soldiers This conflict was so inevitable that critics felt safe Ward’s argument is advanced by another critic into surrendering. enough to speculate about the effect the American- who sounded off about the coverage of the Second Fortunately, there is more to our coverage of the led invasion would have on journalists and their pur- World War.As his target, this critic, writing for a dif- Iraq conflict than the pros and cons of embedding. suit of truth, or, at least, reliable information. In her ferent publication years ago, chose the dispatches of There have been real concerns that media outlets analysis entitled Will the Truth Again Be First don’t do enough to help their correspondents deal Casualty?, Jacqueline E. Sharkey, whose stories on with the emotional stress that war can induce. The U.S. policy in the Central American region sparked It’s important for media sight of dead bodies, such as the Reuters photo fea- questions and an investigation of Lt. Col. Oliver outlets to balance reports tured on Media’s cover page, the loss of colleagues North’s private Contra network,used historical prece- and friends, and the fear of death are enough to play dent to cast doubt on the motives of George W.Bush from embedded reporters tricks on anyone’s psyche. In his piece about the psy- and his fellow warmongers. with stories that contain chological aspects of war, Saleem Khan quotes Citing the 1991 Persian Gulf War, when George Anthony Feinstein, a professor of psychiatry at the Bush Sr.tried to take out Saddam Hussein,Sharkey dispassionate analysis University of Toronto, who notes that: “There’s the notes that journalists poised to cover the second Gulf whole myth of the war correspondent as someone War were doomed to endure similar restrictions. She and context. who is immune to the psychological consequences of notes that there was congressional testimony by a for- trauma. No one is immune.” mer Pentagon official that the U.S. Defense American novelist, John Steinbeck. The American A part of the conflict that also received some Department “doctored” statistics about the success novelist’s dispatches were published in 1958 as a col- attention was the antiwar protest.As the conflict drew rates of weapons systems during the first Gulf War to lection called Once There Was A War. nearer, protests seemed to increase in intensity. That increase public support for controversial weapons “They are period pieces,”the critic observes, “the was evident from demonstrations across the country. systems. Evidence emerged from Operation Desert attitudes archaic, the impulses romantic, and, in light Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and other large cities Storm — as it was called back then — that most of of everything that has happened since, perhaps the seemed to be focal points for much of the media cov- the bombs that fell on the enemy were actually whole body of work untrue and warped and one- erage, which makes Mark Lisac’s observations rather “dumb” bombs that had no precision guidance sys- sided.”The acid-tongued critic was none other than poignant. From his vantage point in Edmonton, he tems. And George Sr. gave international public rela- John Steinbeck himself who, along with other corre- witnessed a peace protest that became one of the tions firm,Hill and Knowlton,$10 million to “sell”the spondents, covered the second war to end all wars largest anti-establishment demonstrations held in American people on the need for U.S. military inter- from the privileged position of an “embed.” Alberta’s capital. And yet, the event went largely vention.Do any of these observations sound like they Steinbeck’s criticisms of his own writings sound unnoticed in the rest of Canada.