RE: [Leica] f/8 and be there - segueing into Military Censorship and Freedom of The Press

[Dan Cardish <dcardish@microtec.net>]

I had the impression from reading Capa's "Slightly out of Focus" that where
he could go during WW2 was heavily controlled, and that he was always on
the verge of getting into deep trouble for trying to flaunt the rules.  

Dan C.

At 12:26 AM 17-06-00 -0400, B. D. Colen wrote:
>The interesting thing about this, and some of my seniors - or historians on
>the list - please correct me if I'm wrong, is that Vietnam was really an
>aberration in terms of the astounding amount of freedom given journalists,
>print and photo alike. As recently as The War To End All Wars, journ
>alists - particularly the photo variety - were heavily censored and
>controlled. (there's a reason, besides clunky equipment, that you don't see
>combat photos of WWI and see very few dead Doughboy photos. Things loosened
>up somewhat in WWII, but the hand of the censor was still present and heavy.
>But in Vietnam it was a whole new ballgame - shooters and writers had almost
>total freedom, and Army helicopters to get them to the scene of the fighting
>in real time. Vietnam was the first war in history in which those on the
>homefront were confronted on a daily basis with the real horrors of war -
>and you know the impact that had on the conduct of the war. The heavy handed
>censorship in the Gulf War was a direct result of, and reaction to, the
>journalistic freedom of Vietnam. The leaders of the US Gulf Campaign cut
>their military teeth in Vietnam, and they were damned if they were going to
>let journalists do to them what they felt had been done in Vietnam.
>Unfortunately I would guess that the Gulf War marked a return to more
>"normal" military/press relations, and doubt that we will ever again see a
>major US war in which the media have the kind of freedom and access they did
>in Vietnam.
>
>B. D.
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