Whither the War Correspondent?

Relationships between the military, their governments and the media have seldom been completely harmonious, especially when the latter have been reporting, or commenting upon conflict. The problem is multi-faceted because of the disparate and often conflicting needs of each group. The military seek security for their operations the media seek open access to information and the government requires secrecy on the one hand, while expecting a sympathetic and supportive media on the other. This study examines these relationships, starting with a historical review of recent small wars in order to identify some of the varied issues that can arise. The impact of the media on public opinion is examined and the study discusses problems of accreditation access to, and security of, operational information information gathering and transmission facilities censorship and disinformation the realistic or sanitized coverage of conflict and the use of arm-chair experts to analyse and predict future military operations. The study considers these problems as they affect the reporting of small wars, and discusses ways in which the potential difficulties may be prevented or at least minimized.