Military And The Media »

WILLIAM V. KENNEDY began a career as a professional journalist as a 17-year-old cub reporter in 1945, and a military career as an enlisted man in the Regular Army in 1946.

"This book provides an unmatched contemporary analysis of the fourth estate and its impact on military affairs. Anyone with a need to understand military-media relations and the potential impact of the media on future military operations needs to save a space on the bookshelf." Military Review

Booknews

Drawing on his long careers in both journalism and the military, Kennedy offers a unique and surprising critique of the press. Journalists are incompetent to cover wars, he says, because they have not received specialized training in military reporting. It is for this reason that the military has had to keep the press on such short tethers, for example in the Gulf War, to protect security. The result is that all the news comes from the military command, which poses a grave threat to democracy. The solution is for the US press to create an overall organization that can cover defense issues during both war and peace. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Introduction

Why the Press Cannot Be Trusted to Cover a War

The Roots of Conflict

Television: The Here, Now, and Obituary Medium

The Dailies: Shaky Bedrock

The Wire Services: The Weakest Reed

The Magazines

Vietnam: The Watershed

Aftermath

Managing the Right to Lie

How to Defeat the "Right to Lie"

Epilogue

Select Bibliography

Index