In a recent NYT story, the SecDef, Mr. Gates, made some new rules and clarifications in regards to the military dealing with the media.

I picked out some of my favorite quotes and insights from the article and pasted below. To read the entire article just click here

I think this is one of those cases where it is important for the reader to take their time and read the entire article and quotes. It probably is a good idea to read other articles about this same issue and read the background of Mr. Gates and Admiral Mullen's views on the media.

Mr. Gates and Admiral Mullen have both been strong supporters of the military gettting their stories out through the media. Admiral Mullen even has his own twitter page and is very active in new media. It seems to me that they want to ensure the military picks the right experts, we call them subject matter experts (SME's) in public affairs, to talk about the right issues. Even though someone is a certain rank or in a certain branch of service, they may not be the SME.

I also took away one of the quotes from the SecDef that mentioned that he is more interested in getting the military policy and actions story out there instead of profile pieces on individuals. This idea is understandable to me and focuses more on the idea of hard news than editorials. Even within the hard news, there is great nuance such as how do you define winning in a counter-insurgency through metrics? Also, merely explaining what it is that certain soldiers and units do is a challenge in itself to inform and educate the civilian population. When in the military, we can be surrounded by acronyms and particular missions that, even though they are unclassified and releasable to the public, it often gets lost in the media because the military does a poor job of explaining and educating on the particulars.

Here are some excerpts from the story

WASHINGTON — Nine days after a four-star general was relieved of command for comments made to Rolling Stone magazine, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued orders on Friday tightening the reins on officials dealing with the news media.

The memorandum requires top-level Pentagon and military leaders to notify the office of the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for public affairs “prior to interviews or any other means of media and public engagement with possible national or international implications.”

Afghanistan was viewed as President Obama’s reassertion of civilian control of the military, so Mr. Gates’s memo on “Interaction With the Media” was viewed as a reassertion by civilian public affairs specialists of control over the military’s contacts with the news media.

I have said many times that we must strive to be as open, accessible and transparent as possible,” Mr. Gates wrote in the memo, which was sent to senior Pentagon civilian officials, the nation’s top military officer, each of the armed-services secretaries and the commanders of the regional war-fighting headquarters. “At the same time, I am concerned that the department has grown lax in how we engage with the media, often in contravention of established rules and procedures.”

“From the moment he came into the building, this secretary has said that to treat the press as an enemy is self-defeating,” Mr. Morrell said. “That attitude has been reflected in his tenure: he has been incredibly accommodating, incredibly forthright and incredibly cooperative with the news media. That said, he thinks we as a giant institution have become too undisciplined in how we approach our communications with the press corps.”

On behalf of the military, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was consulted during the drafting of the memo on media relations and “fully supports the secretary’s intent,” said Capt. John Kirby, the chairman’s spokesman.

He cited Admiral Mullen’s visit to Kabul, Afghanistan, last weekend, in which the admiral told American military officers and embassy personnel that “we must continue to tell our story — we just need to do it smartly, and in a coordinated fashion.”

Just for fun: Here is my photo of the day

Visiting Kandahar

U.S. Army General David H. Petraeus, Commander, International Security Assitance Force, visits with U.S, NATO, and Afghan forces in Kandahar, Afghanistan, July 9, 2010. ISAF Photo By Staff Sgt. Bradley Lail