The Pentagon IS Profiling The Reporters That It Embeds

American war correspondent Kevin Sites points his camera toward an armed Maoist guerilla girl in Kailali, far west Nepal, this week. Pic by Wagle

Files Prove Pentagon Is Profiling Reporters -- Stars And Stripes

WASHINGTON — Contrary to the insistence of Pentagon officials this week that they are not rating the work of reporters covering U.S. forces in Afghanistan, Stars and Stripes has obtained documents that prove that reporters’ coverage is being graded as “positive,” “neutral” or “negative.”

Moreover, the documents — recent confidential profiles of the work of individual reporters prepared by a Pentagon contractor — indicate that the ratings are intended to help Pentagon image-makers manipulate the types of stories that reporters produce while they are embedded with U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Read more ....

Update: Pentagon Reporter-Screening Crisis Deepens -- The Danger Room

My Comment: I am sure that this story is going to raise (or has raised) the eyebrows of many news editors, publishers, and correspondents.

Should we be surprised by these revelations .... I know that I am not. The Pentagon has been trying to put a lid on information flow for the past few years. They are always pointing to security as being the main reason .... and there is probably some validity to that .... but the real intent is to control information.

Will they be successful .... I doubt it.

There are too many independent observers, and most of them have their own blog or website that is independent from the Pentagon. The Pentagon may be successful in screening the main stream reporters who they are embedding .... but they cannot screen everyone. And if a blogger finds a story that has legs and will impact the news cycle .... these embedded reporters will still go after such a story like a hungry shark that is going after some red meat in the ocean.