Military Press Crackdown Extends Further Than Walter Reed

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003551716

A report today that soldiers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center are being told not to speak with the press is apparently just the latest move in a recent effort to tighten restrictions on journalists' access to many military facilities, according to the president of Military Reporters and Editors.

James Crawley, a military reporter with MediaGeneral and MRE president, said today's revelation by Army Times that Walter Reed patients had been barred from speaking with reporters is not the first case of tightened restrictions. In recent months, he says several MRE members have reported similar crackdowns. What's worse, many of the denials are apparently in reaction to the potential negativity of a planned story.

"It is starting to look like it is becoming a policy in some areas where they are not allowing reporters on the base unless it is an absolutely positively good news story," said Crawley. "The military is making it harder and harder to do stories on bases, as far as doing man on the street interviews."

A Pentagon spokesman contacted by E&P had no immediate comment.

Crawley's accusations followed today's Times story, which reported that Walter Reed patients had been muzzled just a week after The Washington Post revealed that outpatients at the facility were forced to live in rundown, poorly maintained housing. The Times also reported that "The Pentagon ... clamped down on media coverage of any and all Defense Department medical facilities, to include suspending planned projects by CNN and the Discovery Channel, saying in an e-mail to spokespeople: 'It will be in most cases not appropriate to engage the media while review takes place.'"

and truth be told, the only way the Congress will get the troops to speak is to override the lawful legal orders and just plain out subpoena troops... and hold those hearings in a public hearing

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from my cousin tonight...

No one, even civilian employees, is supposed to talk directly to the press
without having it cleared by PAO. That's a very, very long standing policy.
(as long as I've been with the military) There is a dial a boss hotline
to the CG's office on all posts. There is no retribution for calling and
lodging your complaint. There is also the IG office which will investigate
any and all complaints.

two years ago

He was not allowed to talk to the press WHILE IN UNIFORM.

Out of uniform, yeah sure, except for very specfic items that came in with the orers of the day or the PoD.

Now his freedom was limited since he is IN FRONT of the Constitution

Civilian employees, are no more limited than in the private sector where you may or may not have signed a privacy agreement

cousin tells me... army hospital administrator who complains to me incessantly about the care veterans receive but in this case she tells me:

Inspections are not that unusual, even after basic. Our folks have a 0500
formation for most of our soldiers for PT and then to work at 0730. If
there is an inspection it is usually held at a 0630 formation. We do not
have recovering wouded patients who are housed in the hospital barracks
however. All of ours are out wounded patients are quartered elsewhere,
mostly with family or in the regular barracks. Our Medical Hold Company
does hold formations (0700 for an hour after the article said they had to
get up, is an hour later than I would have thought). The formations however
would only be for the patients who are well enough to work. They are still
soldiers and are assigned duties in the hospital wherever they can assist.
Mostly clerk type duties or welcome desks. Nothing strenous. The patients
who are assigned here but not well enough to work at all are on "home" duty.
They do not attend formations at all.

No one, even civilian employees, is supposed to talk directly to the press
without having it cleared by PAO. That's a very, very long standing policy.
(as long as I've been with the military) There is a dial a boss hotline
to the CG's office on all posts. There is no retribution for calling and
lodging your complaint. There is also the IG office which will investigate
any and all complaints.

A first sergeant at Walter Reed would have had no control over the hospital
conditions. If he was the 1SG of a unit of soldiers there for recovery, it
is his responsibility to take care of his soldiers and the conditions they
are billeted in.

and it is time for people to do it

I hate to say this but at times you have to go OVER your chain and around your chain, thought that means retirement is in her future

the chain of command. One is the Inspector General. They can get some stuff fixed. Another is to contact Representative or Senator. They can also get brass to move.

The Press is more of a last-resort thing, because of the impact on a military career.

Now that the press has it, I'd guess Building 18 will get patched up and painted. There are plenty of other substandard buildings for "warehousing the wounded" (which seems to be the brass' attitude)

that the policy is not working or is a joke; when it becomes clear to them that there is no retribution to call the CG's office and also no follow-up.

Very, very long-standing policy does not equal automatically a policy that works or is even Constitutional. There is always a problem with the fox watching the henhouse.

in other words keep it a secret.I spent over twenty years in the military,its a closed society.Speak out at your own peril.

I WANT us to talk to the guys. I want hard won knowledge not to disappear.

I read your post.

I could give two shits about the politics of it.

You know - I ref'd my brother and a current doctor on the staff there - and I am still waiting for a call back more than 72 hours later - just to talk to the guys.

Not acceptable.

Joe

if it's bad it isn't happening, didn't happen and won't happen in the future.

Now shut up and do what you're told. Support the quiet, compliant troops!

luckily, the press is getting angry. I heard from a friend in the press corpse, that those accompanying Cheney are livid at his regal behavior, while they got stiffed on food and drink on his recent flights. Apparently, his calling himself a high ranking admin figure also pissed off people.

This is a coverup plain and simple. It will backfire. It will take down some high level generals. But we have to keep pushing.

He used to work out of San Diego, and had a very good relationship with a number of senior military leaders, many of whom were USN. The 'deal' was that he'd cover the story, but allow the command, via the Public Affairs Officer a shot at 'spinning' the results before he went to press. He did not engage in 'gotcha' journalism, and covered stories from all angles in a fair fashion. He wouldn't allow you to "edit" the story, but he would give you a shot at convincing him that a point was unfairly emphasized or characterized. And that's about the best you can hope for, really.

This guy was "not the enemy" in essence. He bent over backwards to be fair. Why they are treating him like this is absurd. It suggests to me that the Army has some pisspoor media guidance in place (and that, to me, is unlikely, as they've had a few scandals and have had to get their shit together in the past decade or so) or they are under the gun--directly ordered, from on high, to play a lock-down game and freeze out the press, without picking, choosing or refusing.

That's so stupid of them, IMO. It's far better to work with cooperative reporters who won't go out of their way to be cruel or unkind, than act like a shithead--because eventually, someone will hand over the damning cellphone video footage, or the pictures, or what-have-you.

Our military IS broken. Thanks a lot, George.

admits this isn't the way they like to see things done.


Army Times today:The order not to “engage the media” sparked discussion on Capitol Hill.

On Wednesday, Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., issued a press release in which she said “any attempt to silence the very soldiers who brought their own mistreatment to light, or to hide ongoing abuses from the public eye — if such attempts are occurring — would be morally reprehensible. It would be an abdication of one of the most fundamental responsibilities of our government: the protection of those who have fought to protect us.”

At a Senate defense appropriations subcommittee hearing, Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, asked for an explanation about the order not to speak to the media after reading reports on the problems at Walter Reed in the Military Times newspapers.

“That’s not our standard, to tell people to keep quiet,” said Adm. Edmund Giambastiani Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs. “If they’ve got problems, we want to hear about them.”

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/02/TNSreedinspectfolo070228/

Our corporate executive government feeds on human life. Not that they actually EAT people(Which would be nicer. At least then we'd be taken care of as good as the cows are), they just throw them away. I see people passively accepting this ridiculous atrocity we _ADMIT_ is a laughingstock, full of false speakers and 2-faced liars. Accepting it. Rape is so much easier if you accept that, too. Don't mean you should, but as american citizens, we're kinda used to it. Ah well. Roll over, Polly.

Our soldiers are the future. If they know they cannot depend on the government, how in good conscience can WE defend the government? It's Orwellian and nightmarish. Everyone is expecting the government to just slap it's forehead and go "Silly us. We need to disney-i-fy the government! Disney will lead us to truth! We'll stop lying and stealing and accepting bribes(How politicians get money, ex: see the finances of senator McCain) right now.

Seriously, you vets need to get on your crutches and wheelchairs and find jobs. McDonald's and Wal*Mart'll hire your "grievously paid" broken down ruined bodies. You're the millstone around everyones necks, paying for your damn health-care is killing our economy. Seriously, if you got more than 4 permanent holes in your belly, you should give up now. We can't afford the financial resources in our nation to take care of you. There's a war on, ya know, and unless you didn't notice, we're the only ones there. Halliburton needs to be paid, right? Remember, the 4 trillion we spent on the war? That's why we can't afford to waste(grievously pay) too many bin-liners in that hospital. Trash-bags are expensive. So are body-bags, but they're re-usable. If we could somehow produce the supplies for hospitals in america, we might be able to give you some of the stuff you need. Like bandages. But the chinese ones are SOOOOOO much cheaper. I bet we could go to war with China, and we'd still buy their cheap bandages for our soldiers. Nothing but the best for our men and women in the service. Now could you "troops" get a frigging job? MRE's are expensive. You're soldiers, and you do what the pres says. If he says you stay there and fight without gas or food or bullets, you stay. You belong to the government, now. It's your duty to serve the GWB honorably and faithfully. So we need you all to get jobs while you're in Iraq. Halliburton(tm) M.R.E.'s are 50 dollars each, so you'll have to work it off as a camel washer. Sponges are expensive, so, well, hows your tongue?

Yelling at our leaders does no good. Screaming and dying does no good. What the hell do you think is left to do to get their attention?

Not