THE ETHICS OF EMBEDDED JOURNALISTS
Critical Analysis
By Lisa Greeves , English and Journalism teacher

Overview:
Embedded journalists are reporters who accompany a specific military unit during their wartime assignment and report on what they see and observe while with that unit. This type of news reporting is an exciting change for war journalism, as it provides unprecedented access to actual battles, successes, failures, and soldiers and often, the enemy. But at the same time, the practice of embedding journalists in the troops spawns a new set of ethical problems and dilemmas that will plague reporters, editors, and networks. Students will explore these ethical dilemmas, debate the decisions made and the reasons behind them, then brainstorm other ethical situations that could plague high school reporters in their own schools.

Students will:

1. Review the fundamentals of the free press;
2. Review ethical and legal guidelines that govern journalists;
3. Identify several existing ethical situations in the media today;
4. Articulate both sides of the ethical debate for each situation
5. Offer solutions and support;
6. Apply their observations to ethical situations in their own school.

Time: This activity could span two 90 minute class periods

Materials:

Correlation to National Standards

Procedure:
1. To prepare students to discuss the current situation of embedded journalists, distribute copies of the Newseum's history of war journalism for students to read for homework, or assign students to read this site online.Also, distribute copies of the 10 Amendments (Handout #1) and copies of the Student Press Law Center's Legal Brief on Privacy (Handout #2). Have students read all three for homework.

2. At the beginning of the class, you can opt to give a pop quiz on the content of the history of war journalism site. A copy of a sample quiz is included.

• Quiz with Answers
  
  
• Quiz

3. Open class discussion by asking students to articulate the major differences that they can identify in past war coverage, beginning with the Civil War. Ask students to speculate on any ethical dilemmas reporters might have faced in each era of reporting on war.

4. Provide students with copies of Terence Smith's article "War, Live" (Handout #4) and the Pentagon's guidelines for embedded journalists. Have students read both handouts silently. While they are reading, divide students into three groups:
Group #1: Journalists' View
Group #2: Government's View
Group #3: Military Unit's View

Have students move themselves around the room so that all members of each group are sitting together.

5. Before beginning the classroom debate, highlight the major points from War, Live. Make sure students hone in on the claim that embeds will only be reporting on a "slice" of the war. Finally, remind students that reporters are always under pressure to report something that will make their account in their publication different and better than any other account in any other publication. They have been trained to look for the next "scoop". Broadcast reporters and their editors are concerned with ratings for their shows and for their networks. All of these concerns are a natural part of the journalism business and should be taken into account when making decisions.

6. After students have gotten into their groups, have them brainstorm for 10 minutes about the philosophy and guidelines for their particular assigned group.

• Students in Group #1, Journalists, should articulate what their philosophy is regarding reporting on war;
• Students in Group #2, Government, should articulate what their position is on allowing reporters to accompany troops, what limits they want to impose and why, what they will allow and won't allow;
• Group #3, Military Unit, should articulate what their interaction will be with the assigned journalist for their unit, what they want their journalist to see or not to see, when they would personally interfere with the reporter's job or not.
  
  Each group should put their articulate philosophy in writing to serve as a reminder while they are debating their reactions to specific scenarios later in class. After each group has finished, have each group share their philosophy with the class orally.

7. To begin the debate, write the following scenarios on the board. You might want to add more details or embellish the scenarios to provide more detail for students to work with.

1. Journalists witness friendly fire casualties involving the military unit that they are embedded with.
2. Journalists riding on tanks across the desert toward Iraq and witness skirmishes along the way.
3. Journalists watch their assigned unit engage in bloody battle with the enemy.
4. Journalists/photojournalists encounter wounded civilians while with their unit.
5. Journalists sit in on casual discussion among unit leaders regarding their location and their upcoming strategy.
6. Journalists observe the social life and fraternization among their units during down time.
7. Journalists realize their assigned unit has made mistakes, either in strategy or on the battlefield or in some other way, and lives were lost as a result.

Keeping in mind what they have already discussed and read, each group should discuss among themselves their opinions on what the journalist should report in each situation. Their opinions should reflect the view of whatever group they are in. For example, students in Group #1 should discuss from a journalist's perspective what they feel journalists should report about a friendly fire incident; students in Group #2 should discuss from the government's perspective what they prefer a journalist reports about a friendly fire incident; students in Group #3 should report what the actual military unit's leaders would prefer for their assigned journalist to report about a friendly fire incident. Each group should make notes about their opinions about each scenario.

Students will probably need to take the remainder of class time to discuss these scenarios in their groups. Tell students to be prepared to debate the other groups on each scenario at the beginning of the next class.

8. At the beginning of the next class, serve as moderator between the three groups. Remind students that there is not always a right or wrong answer for each scenario. Remind students also that these scenarios have all already been confronted by journalists in this war, and many conversations and debates like they are getting ready to have in class have already been conducted at top levels of networks, publications, and the government.

Explain each scenario to the class and then allow a different group to begin discussion each time. Have each group present their reaction to and their philosophy about reporters' coverage of that scenario and their reasons for what they would do. Have students react to other group's philosophies and solutions. As the moderator, try to play devil's advocate at times, pointing out flaws in arguments, a contradiction in handling scenarios, instances of allowing censorship or instances that may violate privacy. Make students be able to articulate their opinions to some touchy aspects of these scenarios.

Allow students to debate and discuss freely for each scenario. This debate might take most of the class time. After students have debated each scenario, try to write a brief summary on the board of what was proposed for each one. Was there a way to compromise or make all parties happy in each situation? Wrap up the debate by asking students the following question: How do you balance the nation's right to know details about a war we are waging with the security of our nation's troops? Can this be balanced? If possible, return to the two original questions posed in the Daily Activity that accompanies this lesson plan. Have any students changed their original opinions?

Extension Ideas/homework:

For homework, assign students to find and read three different embedded reporters' accounts of recent war activity. Write a three-page reaction to the accounts they read, specifically reacting to any information that they sense the reporter was withholding. What do they think that information is? Is withholding that information valid? Also, have students explain the similarities and differences in the three accounts. Finally, have students articulate in their paper their own opinion as to whether the embedded coverage that they are seeing is worth the risk of censorship, the risk of the quality of the information, the risk of the journalist's life. Why or why not? Students should react to the different philosophies that they witnessed in the class debate here. Students need to explain and support their opinion. Make sure students clip or print out the three accounts that they read and turn them in with their paper.

The following links contain many different embedded reporters' accounts of the War on Iraq.

1. http://cyberjournalist.net/features/iraqcoverage.html

2. http://www.poynter.org/

National Standards:

Journalism lesson plans will follow the guidelines set forth in the book Applying NCTE/IRA Standards in Classroom Journalism Projects -- Activities and Scenarios, Candace Perkins Bowen and Susan Hathaway Tantillo. NCTE copyright 2002. An exerpt from the introduction and a list of these standards is included here.

Introduction: "Journalism teachers have long recognized their courses and the often extracurricular media they produce as excellent ways to teach a vast range of high school, junior high/middle school, and even elementary school content. Their courses support teaching standards for various curricula and indeed could -- and probably should-- be allowed to support an entire set of standards uniquely their own. However, because that is not an option in most states, and because journalism courses are most often part of English departments, with instructors who also have English or integrated language arts education backgrounds, it is only natural to create a book to strengthen this link."

Twelve NCTE/IRA (International Reading Association) Standards that the Journalism Education Association adheres to.

Standard 1: Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information, to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

Standard 2: Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophy, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience.

Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meanding and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

Standard 5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Standard 6: Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

Standard 7: Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purposes and audience.

Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and informational resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

Standard 9: Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

Standard 10: Students whose first language is not English make use of their first language to develop competency in the English language arts and to develop understanding of content across the curriculum.

Standard 11: Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Works Cited:
Farstrup, Alan E., and Miles Myers. 1996. "Introduction." Pp. vii-viii in Standards for the English Language Arts. Urbana, Ill.: National Council of Teachers of English, and Newark, Del.: International Reading Association.

Applying NCTE/IRA Standards in Classroom Journalism Projects -- Activities and Scenarios, Candace Perkins Bowen and Susan Hathaway Tantillo. NCTE. copyright 2002.

Author Lisa Greeves has taught high school English and Journalism classes for two Virginia school systems: Fairfax County Public Schools and Rockbridge County Schools. She has a bachelor's degree in English and Communication from James Madison University and a Master's Degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University. She recently had a chapter published in the 2002 NCTE publication Applying NCTE/IRA Standards in Classroom Journalism Projects.

To find out more about opportunities to contribute to this site, contact Leah Clapman at extra@newshour.org.