Gatekeeping in action

The secret profiles commissioned by the Pentagon to rate the work of journalists reporting from Afghanistan were used by military officials to deny disfavored reporters access to American fighting units or otherwise influence their coverage as recently as 2008, an Army official acknowledged Friday... From the Stars and Stripes 8/29/09.

In studying the media you often hear the word Gatekeeper. Imagine all the news items of the day as flock of sheep in a holding pen. The shepherd is the editor, publisher, cameraperson, reporter etc. that decides which sheep make it through the gate to get fleeced/published.  Not satisfied with that simple arrangement the United States Army decided to hire a Public Relations firm to be Gatekeepers to the Gatekeepers. According to Maj. Patrick Seiber, spokesman for the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, "We’re not trying to control what they report, but we are trying to put our best foot forward.” In other words "we are trying to control what they report." Unfortunately the Pentagon forgot to control the reporters for The Stars and Stripes. As stated on their web site "Stars and Stripes is a Department of Defense-authorized daily newspaper distributed overseas for the U.S. military community....Editorially independent of interference from outside its own editorial chain-of-command. " For their reporting on this subject  Charlie Reed, Kevin Baron and Leo Shane III won a George Polk Award for Military Reporting. If you are interested in excellence in journalism and current affairs go to the List of all the Polk Awards for 2009.