UPDATED - ColdType

Myers yesterday blasted critics of the Iraq war
plan, charging they are spreading ‘bogus’ information
that is ‘not helpful’ at a time when U.S.
troops are in combat.
“In an astonishing display of emotion at the
Pentagon news briefing, the normally reserved
Air Force general delivered an impassioned
response to the barrage of media reports of
internecine warfare at the Pentagon over whether
there are enough troops on the ground in Iraq.
“Myers, who didn’t name names, said the highprofile
carping that’s produced a media feeding
frenzy may be ‘good sport inside the Beltway,’
but it is ‘not helpful. . . ’”
With military problems emerging and political
frustration surfacing in a White House whose
chief executive is reportedly glued to the tube,
the Pentagon is tightening control over its
embedded journalists while doing its best to
freeze out reporters operating outside the system.
PR Week reports that military spinners are
also being embedded to keep their eyes on the
spin-ees. “They may not get as much attention as
their media counterparts, but dozens of Pentagon
public affairs officers are ‘embedded’ right
alongside the reporters in Iraq,” PR Week
reports. “The Pentagon also maintains the Coalition
Press Information Center (CPIC) in Kuwait,
a base of operations for public affairs officers not
traveling with troops. A 24-hour operation
designed to keep up with news cycles in every
time zone . . . one of the CPIC’s most vital roles is
to discourage ‘rogue’ journalists from venturing
into dangerous areas by providing the information
they might otherwise attempt to get on their
own.”
A revolt against these briefers is beginning to
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find expression too, Michael Wolff of New York
magazine, who says he embedded himself at the
Press Center in Doha, is disgusted with the quality
of information he’s been bombarded with.
“It takes about 48 hours to understand that
information is probably more freely available at
any other place in the world than it is here. Eventually
you realize that you know significantly
less than when you arrived, and that you are losing
more sense of the larger picture by the hour.
At some point you will know nothing.
“This may be the plan, of course. There are
two kinds of forward reporters: the official
embeds with units on the ground in Iraq, who
know only the details of the action they see, and
those posted to military press centers in Kuwait
or Qatar (as close to Franks, the presumptive
conqueror of Baghdad, as it’s possible to get),
who know only what they are told.
“Which happens to be nothing much at all”
These are just the first signs of a polarization
and a new fault line in the media war – dissent
inside the media and more protest against some
media outlets.
Protesters confronted Fox News in New York.
Richard Cowen reported on what happened in a
story carried on Common Dreams.org. One message
reads:
“The news ticker rimming Fox’s headquarters
on Sixth Avenue wasn’t carrying war updates as
the protest began. Instead, it poked fun at the
demonstrators, chiding them. “War protester
auditions here today . . . thanks for coming!”
“Who won your right to show up here today?”
another questioned. “Protesters or soldiers?
Said a third: “How do you keep a war protester in
suspense? Ignore them.”
It is not doubtful that the protests over the