by Arthur Gibson

Created on: October 11, 2008

The media, Americans lifeline to the news. One would hope that the media would practice self censorship, knowing there are times that the news cannot be made public as it happens. But, since that will never happen, if it ever did, there are times that the government, at whatever level needs to decide what can be broadcast and what cannot.

It would be very naive for anyone today to believe that a news story anywhere in the World cannot be accessed by anyone anywhere. Because of this any news story that could possibly affect the lives of our troops in either Iraq or Afghanistan needs to be carefully scrutinized prior to being broadcast. Ongoing or future planning for offensive or defensive actions if published could increase the danger to our men or women in uniform. Let's face it, CNN, NBC, ABC, and all of the other broadcast stations, be they tv or radio, can be picked up by the individuals our troops are fighting. Think about it, if an enemy knew what are plans were; how hard would it be for them to develop a counter strategy? How many more of our troops would be killed or wounded under those circumstances? One would think that under these conditions the media would practice some self control or restraint; but that seldom seems to be the case. There is a time for that information to be made public; but, not before the mission is complete.

Journalists in WWII frequently were made privy to information that could have affected future or on-going military operations. These individuals were often given detailed briefings and asked to hold off on publication until the Commanding General gave them the ok to go public. Because these news people were not only concerned with getting the news out, but, with protecting US troops they respected the wishes of the military. No one was denying the rights of the American people to know the story, they were simply asking that the news be made public at an appropriate time. All too often that is not the case with today's media. Today, the media are more concerned with breaking the story ahead of their competition than they are of the possible consequences.

You can watch your local news any day of the week and find out information about on-going criminal investigations, some of which could later prove prejudicial to the accused receiving a fair trial. While our justice system is built on the assumption that an individual is innocent until proved guilty, this is often not the case with the press. How often do defendant's get granted a change of venue because the jury pool has been tainted by all the news coverage? It seems that too often the rights of the individual have little meaning to the press. Yet, even when gag orders are implemented during an investigation, someone willing to leak information to the press can be found.

Freedom of the Press is one of the benchmarks of our national heritage and needs to be preserved. But, with this freedom comes responsibility and that responsibility is too often forgotten. When that occurs then someone, usually the government, has to step in and put a temporary halt to the information. I use the word temporary, because at some point that story needs to be made public. If that give and take is not observed by both parties, then the unwritten agreement will not and cannot work. After all, the press does make up one of the checks and balances intregal to our country. And government censorship must be very limited in its use. If not, the system will not work, and the next step becomes a totally controlled government press. If that happens, then this country as we know it no longer exists.

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