Military News Programs Secure a Public Outlet

[reprehensor]

Tampa Bay area government access channels air Defense Department programming that also goes to military bases and features anchors in uniform.

snip

Pentagon Channel programs cover a wide range of issues, but you're not likely to see much coverage of controversial military topics such as the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal or the secret military tribunals of detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. And that, some media analysts say, could be problematic.

"There's nothing wrong with the military bringing this onto the base," said Robert Snyder, director of Rutgers University-Newark's journalism and media Studies program in New Jersey. "But broadcasting Pentagon programs on a public access cable channel is basically going to be the equivalent of a public relations channel intruding into the public sphere. They shouldn't be broadcast and published out into the general world as if they were an independent source of journalism."

In recent months, the Bush administration has come under heavy fire from media critics who complain that the White House has manipulated news.

The criticism grew louder in January after it was revealed that the U.S. Department of Education paid conservative pundit Armstrong Williams $240,000 to promote the president's "No Child Left Behind" policy. Critics also point to revelations last month about the dubious credentials of White House reporter "Jeff Gannon," whose real name is James Dale Guckert. Until he resigned last month, Guckert worked for Talon News and GOPUSA, conservative Web sites financed by a Texas Republican.

If you can't buy the media... BE THE MEDIA! That's what the Pentagon sez.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. hmm this has been the standard in military

towns for years

Some of those news are critical to dependents and personnel

After sep 11 they were used to let people know what was the status of gates at pearl

point is, this is not new