Military Editors and Reporters


October 18, 2002


BOB GARFIELD: The history of the press's relationship with the military is a history in more ways than one of conflict. The two institutions have many overlapping interests and many that coincide not at all. For instance, military failure is not a subject the Pentagon easily warms to but one the media believe to be critically important to citizens. In the past, individual news organizations have lobbied hard for greater access to war zones and to personnel in the field and at the Pentagon. What they have gotten in successive U.S. deployments on all those fronts is less and less. Now, as we charge toward a second Gulf War, military correspondents themselves have banded together to fight the same fight. Their group is called Military Reporters and Editors --MRE for short. USA Today reporter Dave Moniz is a founder of MRE and he joins us now. Dave, welcome to On the Media.

DAVID MONIZ: Well thank you very much.

BOB GARFIELD: Let's just lay some groundwork. We're in the middle of one war; a very peculiar war against terrorism. And seem to be on the verge of another in Iraq -- a second Gulf War. What is at the top of the MRE agenda?

DAVID MONIZ: Well obviously I, I think we have a, a very keen interest in continuing dialogue with the Department of Defense to ensure that those reporters covering the next war have the kind of access that would be required to really explain to the public how, when, where, why this war is being fought; and I think to be quite candid-- there is a lingering feeling within the media that we did not have this kind of access during the first year of covering the war on terrorism. There are numerous accounts of reporters who traveled with American forces in Kandahar, in other cities within Afghanistan and simply were restricted from interviewing troops returning from missions - leaving to undertake missions - and we're, we're not necessarily talking about special forces or other types of clandestine operations but perhaps troops that were involved in more conventional kinds of operations were, were pretty much off limits!

BOB GARFIELD:What keeps in your opinion the civilian leadership of the Defense Department and the military itself from giving journalists the kind of access that they're looking for?

DAVID MONIZ: Well personal opinion -- I think secrecy to be quite honest seems to be a hallmark of this administration. I'm not sure with the civilian leadership of the Pentagon there's ever been a, a sufficient building of trust with the media that would be required to open up opportunities that could be seen as a little bit risky by those in the Pentagon but-- I think-- there is some risk if there is also a lot to be gained by telling the public a very compelling story about how its men and women have in many cases very successfully fought this war!

BOB GARFIELD:Well coverage of all of U.S. wars including Vietnam has had two parts - the part that actually glorifies the military and trumpets its successes and also the part that puts a very close eye on accidents, on bad strategy, on civilian casualties, on all of the things that any institution would prefer to keep under wraps. Do you think the military will ever buy into the benefits of rigorous coverage versus the disadvantages of having embarrassments revealed to the American people?

DAVID MONIZ: That's a great question but I, I don't really view the military as a monolith. There certainly are all kinds of precedents that would suggest that sort of the old stereotypes aren't necessarily accurate and don't necessarily have to be the model for the way that we cover conflicts. There were generals during the Gulf War for example who brought reporters into their units, briefed them on, on what kinds of operations they were about to undertake and gave them complete access to the battlefield. As far as I can tell, not one of those generals came to regret that decision.

BOB GARFIELD: Let me ask you one last question. Now MRE stands for Military Reporters and Editors. But as I am sure you are only too well aware [LAUGHS] it is also an Army acronym for Meals Ready to Eat. You're going into a theater of war in all probability -- do you really want to be seen as a meal ready to eat?

DAVID MONIZ: I would defer to those within the group who selected the name. I wasn't present when we gave birth to that name. How's that for a copout?

BOB GARFIELD: [LAUGHS] Well it's, it's worthy of a Pentagon briefer, actually. [LAUGHTER] Dave Moniz, thanks very much.

DAVID MONIZ: Thank you.

BOB GARFIELD:Dave Moniz is the Pentagon correspondent for USA Today; earlier this year he won the 15th Gerald R. Ford Prize for distinguished reporting on national defense, and he is one of the founders of Military Reporters and Editors. [MUSIC]