Journalists should err on side of caution, safety when reporting from front lines
Emily Marburger
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: Perspectives
In 2003, Geraldo Rivera, reporting live from Iraq while on location with the Army's 101st Airborne, utilized the sand beneath his feet in order to inform Fox News viewers about vital aspects of military plans and locations. As a result, Rivera was forced to return to the United States, ending his time as a wartime reporter.
According to the First Amendment of the Constitution, "Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…" meaning there is no limit to what a journalist can report on. However when it comes to wartime reporting and matters of national security, a line needs to be drawn - and not by Rivera.
For the most part, journalists accept some type of censorship while covering war due to the 1919 trial, Schenck v. United States. According to "Mass Media Law" by Don R. Pember and Clay Calvert, the Supreme Court's ruling on the trial stated that the Constitution protects coverage during a time of peace, but cannot be expected to do so during a time of war.
This means that the government has the right to use prior restraint, or censor, what the media can cover regarding wartime material. This is due to the fact that reporting from a battlefield environment can become a matter of national security and risk the safety of soldiers.
Access to military locations becomes an issue of debate when it comes to constitutional protection over the press. It is obvious that journalists can report most effectively from the battlefront, but where should they be allowed to go and what should they be allowed to say regarding their location? What can journalists say regarding anything being covered from the front line?
Bryan G. Whitman, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for media relations, was quoted in a New York Times article as saying, "We practice security at the source. If they are in our battle space, they are not allowed to divulge classified information.''
Whitman's statement seems commonsensical. When journalists are embedded with military on a battlefront, they are under the jurisdiction of the Pentagon, according to a Pentagon official in the same article.
According to the First Amendment of the Constitution, "Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press…" meaning there is no limit to what a journalist can report on. However when it comes to wartime reporting and matters of national security, a line needs to be drawn - and not by Rivera.
For the most part, journalists accept some type of censorship while covering war due to the 1919 trial, Schenck v. United States. According to "Mass Media Law" by Don R. Pember and Clay Calvert, the Supreme Court's ruling on the trial stated that the Constitution protects coverage during a time of peace, but cannot be expected to do so during a time of war.
This means that the government has the right to use prior restraint, or censor, what the media can cover regarding wartime material. This is due to the fact that reporting from a battlefield environment can become a matter of national security and risk the safety of soldiers.
Access to military locations becomes an issue of debate when it comes to constitutional protection over the press. It is obvious that journalists can report most effectively from the battlefront, but where should they be allowed to go and what should they be allowed to say regarding their location? What can journalists say regarding anything being covered from the front line?
Bryan G. Whitman, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for media relations, was quoted in a New York Times article as saying, "We practice security at the source. If they are in our battle space, they are not allowed to divulge classified information.''
Whitman's statement seems commonsensical. When journalists are embedded with military on a battlefront, they are under the jurisdiction of the Pentagon, according to a Pentagon official in the same article.
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