01 May 2008
U.S. Military Journalists Strive for “Truth, Trust, Credibility”
Defense Information School trains communicators from around the world
Washington -- “Truth, trust and credibility” are the watchwords that infuse every aspect of communications training at the U.S. Defense Information School (DINFOS), says Navy Captain W. Curry Graham, the school’s commandant.
Graham welcomed more than a dozen members of the foreign press to the school April 28 under the auspices of the U.S. Foreign Press Center. The civilian reporters receive a full day of tours and briefings at this state-of-the-art educational facility located at Fort Meade, Maryland, not far from Washington.
DINFOS, a U.S. Department of Defense school, trains personnel from all branches of the U.S. military in public affairs, print and electronic journalism, photography and television and radio broadcasting.
The school also trains civilian U.S. government employees and military students from nearly 70 countries around the world.
Some 3,500 students study each year at DINFOS, which offers 30 separate courses year-round in nine different communications career fields. The school offers distance learning opportunities as well.
WHY MILITARY JOURNALISTS?
With more than 1.4 million military personnel now serving in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force and Coast Guard, there is a huge internal demand for news about the military’s activities, according to Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Watrous, the deputy commandant at DINFOS.
But civilian populations -- including civilian news media -- are also among the military journalist’s audiences, especially when activities of the military, such as training exercises or accidents, affect surrounding civilian communities.
“We are not in the business of withholding information,” Watrous said, but Defense Department policy does call for withholding certain information under circumstances clearly stated in the “Principles of Information.” That policy prohibits the release of information “when disclosure would adversely affect national security or threaten the safety or privacy of the men and women of the Armed Forces.”
The “Principles of Information” also clearly state that “propaganda has no place in Department of Defense public affairs programs.” But DINFOS does train its students to counteract the propaganda generated by opponents, Watrous said.
EMBEDDED REPORTERS
Sometimes the duties of military communicators include aiding civilian “embedded” journalists who report on armed conflicts while attached to a U.S. military unit. According to Watrous, embedded journalists, simply by virtue of being nonmilitary reporters, often are able to provide what is perceived by the public to be the “most credible information.”
For the most part, military communicators are advocates for civilian embedded journalists. During a panel discussion on that issue, U.S. Army Sergeant First Class Angela McKinzie, who served in public affairs functions in Iraq, observed that “embeds had more access and could stay with a story longer than journalists who flew in for short assignments.”
Embedded civilians journalists, however, never will get “both sides of the story,” acknowledged Army Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fitzpatrick, who has served in public affairs positions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The reason is simple: Embedded journalists must stay with their U.S. military unit if they expect protection from enemy forces.
U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class Stan Travioli, who has worked as a military communicator in conflict situations in Somalia, Iraq, Uganda and Rwanda, observed that “trust is required on both sides. Civilian embedded reporters can’t use classified material, but they are free to report ‘bad news.’”
“HEROES OF COMMUNICATION”
A communications job offers no shield against bullets and bombs. Whatever their communications specialty, DINFOS graduates are soldiers first, and some find themselves doing their jobs in the thick of combat.
To remember those who have died in the line of duty, the military school has established a Hall of Heroes dedicated to the “heroes of communications.”
One such hero is Marine Major Megan McClung, who was killed in Iraq by an improvised explosive device December 6, 2006, while escorting civilian journalists. In remembering her, Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Salas, then the public affairs officer of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, was quoted as saying: “She was an advocate for the press in Iraq and had a reputation of being tough but fair with the journalists with whom she worked.”
McClung’s name is enshrined along with those of more than 100 military communicators who have died in combat since the Korean War.
