TopicsOn The Media is produced by:
Since 2001, independent media outlets have flourished in Afghanistan. But now the Afghan parliament is considering legislation that could severely curb press freedom. Saad Mohseni, founder of Afghanistan's most popular TV network, says Afghan media outlets will not fold under government pressure.
Marines involved in the alleged massacre at Haditha, Iraq, went on trial this week. The New York Times’ Paul von Zielbauer talks about a knowingly false press-release put forth by the military, and says that without media attention, there may not have been any military investigation at all.
Estimates of civilians killed in Iraq range from 60,000 to 600,000. Now the Iraqi government is clamping down on the last remaining source for official numbers. L.A. Times Baghdad correspondent Tina Susman says her paper is keeping count anyway.
More on this topic:
But Who’s Counting
Innocent Accounting Errors
The New Math
Since the beginning of the Iraq war, blogs by soldiers and marines have provided one of the clearest pictures of life as a grunt. Now, the Army is cracking down on military blogs. Retired paratrooper and blogger Matthew Burden says it’s a death sentence for combat blogging. But Army Major Ray Ceralde defends the new rules.
More on this topic:
I Wanna Be a Soldier Blogger
House Democrats held hearings this week to investigate whether the Pentagon deliberately twisted the truth about the war exploits of Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman. Army Lieutenant Colonel Robert Bateman discusses the history of hero-making in war.
The mission of a Marine combat artist, dating back to World War I, is “Go to war, do art.” Combat artist Sergeant Kristopher Battles talks about the challenge of drawing a picture while escaping sniper fire.
The 15 British naval officers detained in Iran went home this week, but they stayed in headlines. The L.A. Times' Borzou Daragahi says Iran’s image may have been bolstered by the ordeal, at least in the Mideast press.
BBC correspondent Alan Johnston was kidnapped in Gaza last month. It's generated some outrage from western journalists, but even more from those in Palestine. Reuters reporter Nidal al-Mughrabi discusses the Palestinian response to Johnston's abduction.
