> The "truth" that the military pays to be published in Iraqi newspapers?
> Surprise, surprise. The U.S. military has been caught with its hand in the
> cookie jar paying off Iraqi journalists to plant buttery stories about the
> slicing and dicing going on in that war-torn nation.

Here's a review by the Columbia School of Journalism about the press
coverage during the first Gulf War:
http://archives.cjr.org/year/91/3/debrief-arnett.asp

Getting the truth out of Iraq has never been easy. If you recall, all
journalists in Baghdad had a "minder" watching and approving every story.
Forget about paying to get stories into the nightly news casts, those
reporters were saying whatever the Iraqi officials wanted just to stay in
the country. 

IMHO, the best line in the article blasts every advocacy journalist, "A
journalist who decides that his job is to help win a war, rather than just
to describe it, is better off enlisting." (I would extend the comment "to
help win OR LOSE a war...") A good journalist shouldn't have to be paid to
report view or another, they should leave their biases at the door and
report EVERYTHING that they see regardless of whether or not it gets them
invited to next exclusive Washington/New York party.

Mark W.

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