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I agree with you it is not easy especially when the good work that is being done goes largely unreported. Good news does not sellOne of the roads that has got us to this situation is IMHO our relation with the media and their reporting of events and the spin or interpretations that they apply. FOr example you mentioned eariler in your post the use of embedded journalists, personally I'm vehemently against this practise as troops and their actions are not news stories what happens in a firefight or an action against an ememy is for that unit and that unit alone. It may look good on TV to an armchair audience but can easily lead to mis-interpretation and condemnation by those who do not understand what they are looking at or to those that would seek an alternative interpretation for their own nefarious ends. It is easy to pervert a sequence of events into something totally different in an air conditioned editing suite.This relationship with the media and the image projected by it to the outside world can be a double edged sword. IMHO one of the sources of negative image projection of the US is the US media itself and the poor quality of the mainstream consumer journalism. It seems that more often than not one is fighting against false information or exagerated claims or just pure planted propaganda sold as fact by less discerning journalists in order to make money or meet a deadline. It is not easy to get out of this situation as it is embedded in US culture and unfortunately when its blatant propoganda can be very damaging to the national image. It all comes down to the management of information and how one ultimately uses that information.
I agree with you it is not easy especially when the good work that is being done goes largely unreported. Good news does not sell
One of the roads that has got us to this situation is IMHO our relation with the media and their reporting of events and the spin or interpretations that they apply. FOr example you mentioned eariler in your post the use of embedded journalists, personally I'm vehemently against this practise as troops and their actions are not news stories what happens in a firefight or an action against an ememy is for that unit and that unit alone. It may look good on TV to an armchair audience but can easily lead to mis-interpretation and condemnation by those who do not understand what they are looking at or to those that would seek an alternative interpretation for their own nefarious ends. It is easy to pervert a sequence of events into something totally different in an air conditioned editing suite.
This relationship with the media and the image projected by it to the outside world can be a double edged sword. IMHO one of the sources of negative image projection of the US is the US media itself and the poor quality of the mainstream consumer journalism. It seems that more often than not one is fighting against false information or exagerated claims or just pure planted propaganda sold as fact by less discerning journalists in order to make money or meet a deadline. It is not easy to get out of this situation as it is embedded in US culture and unfortunately when its blatant propoganda can be very damaging to the national image. It all comes down to the management of information and how one ultimately uses that information.
