Media embeds
Bob Stahl
employees of the US military currently serving in Kuwait or Iraq on their
missions, rather than simply rely on prepared briefings as members of the
general press pool.
Not sure whether this has been covered in a.u.e or other ngs, but the
now-official term used by the Pentagon for this practice is "embed". As far
as I can tell, media "embedding" with the military was not a common term or
concept until Bosnia, c. 1996.
My opinion of the practice itself is mixed. The reality-TV aspect of an
homunculus of a reporter in fatigues and goggles, looking askance while
pointing a sidearm at his unit's broken-down truck, smoke rising from the
hood and some [classified] village in the vague distance, has not yet been
exploited to its full potential.
In the recent dust storms, one of our local SF radio people blathered as
much about his own need for a quart of eyewash as on the helo operations of
his unit. Couldn't say where he was, where they were headed, or where they
had been. "Reporting from East Bumblefuck, Iraq... back to you, Rosy".
Anyhow, the English usage issue for me is whether "embed" has legs as a
nouned verb.
The defining document seems to be this, from February, 2003:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2003/d20030228pag.pdf
The "Committee to Protect Journalists" offers it here in HTML:
http://www.cpj.org/Briefings/2003/gulf03/embed.html
Some usage examples:
Subject: Public Affairs Guidance (PAG) on embedding media
during possible future operations/deployments in the U.S.
Central Commands (CENTCOM) Area of Responsibility (AOR).
The Department of Defense (DOD) policy on media coverage
of future military operations is that media will have
long-term, minimally restrictive access to U.S. air,
ground and naval forces through embedding.
These embedded media will live, work and travel as part
of the units with which they are embedded to facilitate
maximum, in-depth coverage of U.S. forces in combat and
related operations.
Here's where they "noun" it in various senses:
A media embed is defined as a media representative
remaining with a unit on an extended basis - perhaps a
period of weeks or even months.
...OASD(PA) is the central agency for managing and
vetting media embeds to include allocating embed slots
to media organizations. Embed authority may be delegated
to subordinate elements after the commencement of
hostilities and at the discretion of OASD(PA). Embed
opportunities will be assigned to media organizations,
not to individual reporters.
and more ominously:
Violation of the ground rules may result in the immediate
termination of the embed and removal from the AOR.
Termination with extreme prejudice?
Again, the earliest source I could find was from the Bosnia
conflict in 1996:
http://www.dod.mil/news/May1996/t050996_tbrfg050.html
Just an observer,
--
Bob Stahl
MC
"Bob Stahl" <urbul...@pacbell.net> wrote:
> The Pentagon has allowed upwards of 600 media personnel to accompany
> employees of the US military currently serving in Kuwait or Iraq on their
> missions, rather than simply rely on prepared briefings as members of the
> general press pool.
>
> Not sure whether this has been covered in a.u.e or other ngs, but the
> now-official term used by the Pentagon for this practice is "embed". As far
> as I can tell, media "embedding" with the military was not a common term or
> concept until Bosnia, c. 1996.
<SNIP>
I find very little difference between the media being "embedded" with
the military and being "in bed with" the military.
trailstyle
The media likes a prostitute?
or
The media likes a wife?
Steve Hayes
>Anyhow, the English usage issue for me is whether "embed" has legs as a
>nouned verb.
You're supposed to shout "OLE"
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
John O'Flaherty
wrote:
>On Wed, 26 Mar 2003 19:55:19 GMT, "Bob Stahl" <urbul...@pacbell.net> wrote:
>
>>Anyhow, the English usage issue for me is whether "embed" has legs as a
>>nouned verb.
>
>You're supposed to shout "OLE"
I object to that link.
--
john
Ben Zimmer
Many TV reporters and newscasters (at least on CNN) seem to prefer the
pronunciation ['Im bEd] for the noun (and sometimes the verb as well).
The first time I heard a reporter announcing his position as "['Im bEd]
with (such-and-such unit)" I heard it as [In bEd] and did a double-take.
I suspect the reporters are mimicking military pronunciation. Moving
the stress to the first syllable is not surprising in the US military
context (compare "offense", "defense", etc.), but it's interesting that
it's become ['Im bEd] rather than ['Em bEd] given the standard spelling
of "embed" rather than "imbed".
Safire's recent column on the term didn't discuss the pronunciation:
<http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/09/magazine/09ONLANGUAGE.html>.