Pentagon Reporters

Those who make national security decisions in the United States inevitably meet the press. Hardened though a government civilian or military officer may be toward television or newspapers, he will nonetheless eventually be required to do business with reporters - or to decide how best to avoid them. Sometimes good fortune with the press spells victory for a policy or program. Failure in dealings with the media can doom the best efforts of the brightest people. Clearly, those who would be successful defense advocates and managers need to know about reporters and the flow of news. This study looks at national security news by examining the small band of reporters who are considered the Pentagon press corps. It introduces those who regularly cover military stories. It presents reporters largely as they see themselves, in the context of their working environment. It tells us what they say about their work, their colleagues, their organizations, and their sources. As a result, the study tilts toward being an occasionally sympathetic examination of why reporters do what they do-especially why they do things that often irritate leaders in the Defense Establishment. This approach -from the reporter's viewpoint- has a purpose. National security decisionmakers sometimes view unrestrained news coverage of military subjects as baggage the democratic system carries, baggage so weighty it may some day sink the ship of state. Some regard reporters as alarmists, as people who are inaccurate, intentionally biased, and opposed to the military. To them, reporters are out to sell newspapers, to be seen on the television tube, to make a name for themselves regardless of the cost to the nation. In certaincases, these critics may be right. It really does not matter. Officials must -barring a change in the Constitution- contend with reporters anyway. They should study journalists carefully, see them as they see themselves, know their capabilities and weaknesses, and developSims, Robert B. is the author of 'Pentagon Reporters ' with ISBN 9781410220349 and ISBN 1410220346.