PENTAGON BREAKS THE GOLDEN RULE OF PR
... or Shooting the messenger.
The number one rule of PR is 'don't piss off the journalists' but it seems the US military has done just that and are now being accused of deliberately targeting the news media in Baghdad after seven journalists were killed or wounded by US fire yesterday. Eleven journalists have now died in this war.
Simon Joel, acting director of the Committee to Protect Journalists has sent a letter to Donald Rumsfeld, calling for an investigation into the deaths. He quotes Article 79 of the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions, which notes that 'journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered civilians & without prejudice to the right of war correspondents [embedded reporters] accredited to the armed forces.'
Dear
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned by a series of U.S. military strikes against known media locations in Baghdad today that have left three journalists dead and several wounded. We believe these attacks violate the Geneva Conventions. FULL LETTER.
