October 14, 2007:
On October
12th, former Iraq commander, Lieutenant General (retired) Ricardo S. Sanchez
gave a talk at a Military Reporters and Editors luncheon in Washington D.C. The
media promptly reported general Sanchez as being critical of government
strategy in running the war. No mention was made of the first 40 percent of the
3,400 word address. This is found below. Its an interesting omission. But
considering what Sanchez said, rather predictable. Its another example of the
media reporting only what they want to see happening, not what is actually
happening. The troops constantly complain of that, but the mass media,
especially, doesnt seem to care or, in many cases, even to be aware of what
they are doing. General Sanchez does, and was ignored for his efforts.
The Unreported Portion of the
Talk
Good afternoon ladies and
gentlemen.
Some of you may not believe
this but I am glad to be here. When Sig asked me if I would consider addressing
you there was no doubt that I should come into the lion's den. This was
important because I have firmly believed since desert shield that it is
necessary for the strength of our democracy that the military and the press
corps maintain a strong, mutually respectful and enabling relationship. This
continues to be problematic for our country, especially during times of war.
One of the greatest military correspondents of our time, Joe Galloway, made me
a believer when he joined the 24th infantry division during desert storm.
Today, I will attempt to do
two things - first I will give you my assessment of the military and press
relationship and then I will provide you some thoughts on the current state of
our war effort. As all of you know I have a wide range of relationships and
experiences with our nations military writers and editors. There are some in
your ranks who I consider to be the epitome of journalistic professionalism -
Joe Galloway, Thom Shanker, Sig Christensen, and john burns immediately come to
mind. They exemplify what America should demand of our journalists - tough
reporting that relies upon integrity, objectivity and fairness to give accurate
and thorough accounts that strengthen our freedom of the press and in turn our
democracy. On the other hand, unfortunately, I have issued ultimatums to some
of you for unscrupulous reporting that was solely focused on supporting your
agenda and preconceived notions of what our military had done. I also refused
to talk to the European stars and stripes for the last two years of my command
in Germany for their extreme bias and single minded focus on Abu Gharaib.
Let me review some of the
descriptive phrases that have been used by some of you that have made my
personal interfaces with the press corps difficult:
"Dictatorial and somewhat
dense",
"Not a strategic
thought",
Liar,
"Does not get it"
and
The most inexperienced
Lieutenant General.
In some cases I have never
even met you, yet you feel qualified to make character judgments that are
communicated to the world. My experience is not unique and we can find other
examples such as the treatment of secretary brown during Katrina. This is the worst
display of journalism imaginable by those of us that are bound by a strict
value system of selfless service, honor and integrity. Almost invariably, my
perception is that the sensationalistic value of these assessments is what
provided the edge that you seek for self aggrandizement or to advance your
individual quest for getting on the front page with your stories! As I
understand it, your measure of worth is how many front page stories you have
written and unfortunately some of you will compromise your integrity and
display questionable ethics as you seek to keep America informed. This is much
like the intelligence analysts whose effectiveness was measured by the number
of intelligence reports he produced. For some, it seems that as long as you get
a front page story there is little or no regard for the "collateral
damage" you will cause. Personal reputations have no value and you report
with total impunity and are rarely held accountable for unethical conduct.
Given the near instantaneous
ability to report actions on the ground, the responsibility to accurately and
truthfully report takes on an unprecedented importance. The speculative and
often uninformed initial reporting that characterizes our media appears to be
rapidly becoming the standard of the industry. An Arab proverb states -
"four things come not back: the spoken word, the spent arrow, the past,
the neglected opportunity." once reported, your assessments become
conventional wisdom and nearly impossible to change. Other major challenges are
your willingness to be manipulated by "high level officials" who leak
stories and by lawyers who use hyperbole to strengthen their arguments. Your
unwillingness to accurately and prominently correct your mistakes and your
agenda driven biases contribute to this corrosive environment. All of these
challenges combined create a media environment that does a tremendous
disservice to America. Over the course of this war tactically insignificant
events have become strategic defeats for America because of the tremendous
power and impact of the media and by extension you the journalist. In many
cases the media has unjustly destroyed the individual reputations and careers
of those involved. We realize that because of the near real time reporting
environment that you face it is difficult to report accurately. In my business
one of our fundamental truths is that "the first report is always
wrong." unfortunately, in your business "the first report" gives
Americans who rely on the snippets of CNN, if you will, their "truths"
and perspectives on an issue. As a corollary to this deadline driven need to
publish "initial impressions or observations" versus objective facts
there is an additional challenge for us who are the subject of your reporting.
When you assume that you are correct and on the moral high ground on a story
because we have not respond to questions you provided is the ultimate arrogance
and distortion of ethics. One of your highly respected fellow journalists once
told me that there are some amongst you who "feed from a pig's
trough." if that is who I am dealing with then i will never respond
otherwise we will both get dirty and the pig will love it. This does not mean
that your story is accurate.
I do not believe that this is
what our forefathers intended. The code of ethics for the society of
professional journalists states:
...public enlightenment is the
forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. The duty of the
journalist is to further those ends by seeking truth and providing a fair and
comprehensive account of events and issues. Conscientious journalists from all
media and specialties strive to serve the public with thoroughness and honesty.
Professional integrity is the cornerstone of a journalist's credibility
The basic ethics of a
journalist that calls for:
1. Seeking truth,
2. Providing fair and
comprehensive account of events and issues
3. Thoroughness and honesty
All are victims of the massive
agenda driven competition for economic or political supremacy. The death knell
of your ethics has been enabled by your parent organizations who have chosen to
align themselves with political agendas. What is clear to me is that you are
perpetuating the corrosive partisan politics that is destroying our country and
killing our service members who are at war.
My assessment is that your
profession, to some extent, has strayed from these ethical standards and
allowed external agendas to manipulate what the American public sees on TV,
what they read in our newspapers and what they see on the web. For some of you,
just like some of our politicians, the truth is of little to no value if it
does not fit your own preconceived notions, biases and agendas.
It is astounding to me when i
hear the vehement disagreement with the military's forays into information
operations that seek to disseminate the truth and inform the Iraqi people in
order to counter our enemy's blatant propaganda. As I assess various media
entities, some are unquestionably engaged in political propaganda that is
uncontrolled. There is no question in my mind that the strength our democracy
and our freedoms remain linked to your ability to exercise freedom of the press
- I adamantly support this basic foundation of our democracy and completely
supported the embedding of media into our formations up until my last day in
uniform. The issue is one of maintaining professional ethics and standards from
within your institution. Military leaders must accept that these injustices
will happen and whether they like what you print or not they must deal with you
and enable you, if you are an ethical journalist.
Finally, I will leave this
subject with a question that we must ask ourselves--who is responsible for
maintaining the ethical standards of the profession in order to ensure that our
democracy does not continue to be threatened by this dangerous shift away from
your sacred duty of public enlightenment?