Panelists: Noah of Wired's Danger Room (http://blog.wired.com/defense), Lex of Neptunus Lex (http://www.neptunuslex.com), Muroc of Murdoc Online (http://www.murdoconline.net), Captain Anthony Deiss of CENTCOM, ANG (http://www.centcom.mil), Eagle1 of EagleSpeak (http://www.eaglespeak.blogspot.com), Slab of OpFor (http://www.op-for.com, http://op-lightning.blogspot.com)
1st order of business - the new OPSEC reg, and the blogs / MSM relationship.
Noah started with myths about the MSM:
1. The MSM is filled with disloyal people. He said that it is not necessarily a bias about the war that results in the coverage - it's the fact that quiet days are not news. There's a value in the media being skeptical about politicians and officials. Newsroom culture is very different from military culture; there is a lot of ignorance about what military culture is. The thing that military blogs can do is learn 'em.
2. Reporters just kind of hang out in the Green Zone writing. More journalists have been killed in Iraq than in any other war; about 100. There are a lot of reporters out there risking themselves to get the story.
The comments about the military got a big response from the bloggers. Somehow, we just weren't buying the "reporters are by and large good people" line.
The past incidents of the NY Slimes exposing covert operations that fight the War on Terror, and other media outlets compromising sensitive data, were brought up. The question - how do we believe that they are trustable, if they appear to be working for the other side?
Noah said that he thinks that some of the people who do these things may genuinely believe that they are doing the right thing; they act out of real concern. (I don't buy that, by and large. Sorry, but I don't). I have seen too many things out in the MSM that conflict directly with what the boots on the ground say, and always with a detrimental spin.
Lex made a good point - they put these stories out because we buy them.
Eagle1 said that there have been stories that have gone so far as to provide enough detail about certain individuals that it could risk their safety.
On the topic of "Do we matter?" John noted that last year, CENTCOM sent two Majors who largely stayed outside. This year, we have an official rep on the panel. This year, the President provided opening remarks. This year, Admiral Fox talked with us live from Iraq. He had planned to be here personally. When those plans changed, the millitary took the time to set up the technology so that he could be here. He read a letter from a Senior field grade PAO officer, who also noted the difficulty in getting stories out there, and said that he saw bloggers being a second or third string information channel, until they showed the ability to impact Congress. The MSM is what they're reading.
John noted, it's not how many people read you - it's WHO reads you.
Slab said he'd like to see unit bloggers. He noted that there was a unit whose base at one point took more indirect fire than any other base in Iraq. Three months later, kids were playing in the fields, and people were sitting outside. There were no PAO folks, no MSM embeds, and therefore, no coverage. His concern, he stated, is that if the military doesn't start recognizing the value, these stories could be completely lost.
Cpt. Deiss said that the General Officers still seem focused on the top media outlets. He said it's going to take some time before the blogosphere gets the notice it should have. He said CENTCOM is going to be seeing some new personnel over the next few months, and he is optimistic that the blogosphere will get more notice.
An audience commenter noted that the Office of the Secretary of Defense has gotten the blogs - that office is hooking bloggers up with interviews, etc. A rep from the Sec Defs office noted that they love the blogs, and are impressed with the ability of the milblogs to get the truth out. The DoD, she said, would be happy to engage with the milblogs.
John asked what has changed in the last year to make the DoD think that this was a good idea? One, the Hezbollah issue and the faked photographs, exposed by the blogosphere.
She said we're almost a barometer of what's coming.
For the first time, the internet is the number one source of news, she noted - over television.
More in a little while
Labels: Milblog Conference 2007
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