Former war correspondent impressed by Iraq coverage
Famed Associated Press special correspondent and Uniontown native George Esper, whose coverage of the Vietnam War included the 1975 fall of Saigon, is amazed at the instantaneous access television networks have with their field correspondents in Iraq. Esper, who retired from the AP after 42 years and now teaches journalism at West Virginia University, says improved communication systems literally permit news anchors to phone up their correspondents when they want a fresh report.
“What is surprising and it feels so strange is when Fox or CNN can call in their correspondents on a moment’s notice, and they’re live in the desert or in Baghdad. We could never do that in Vietnam,” says Esper, who’s watched the war unfold from his Boston home while on spring break from academia. “You can call in these correspondents in for a report, in a second or two. In Vietnam we had to spend probably 40 or 50 percent of our time – substantial time – to get the story out to the world.”
Esper says that today’s “very sophisticated” communications, coupled with the fact that this is a very competitive story involving three major cable networks, allow for minute-by-minute war updates unheard of during his decade in Vietnam.
Embedding reporters with troops really works better for television, says Esper, because it allows them to send pictures out immediately. “But the only thing that bothers me is if the military says, ‘You can’t send that story, or you have to withhold that information, for security reasons.’ We’ll see (if that’s been the case). We’ll have a better idea of that as the story unfolds,” adds the veteran journalist.
Esper says that back in his war coverage heyday, in the 1960s and 1970s, communication systems were so poor that it often was easier to hitchhike a ride on a military helicopter or cargo plane and go back to Saigon to file the story.
“It could take me the whole day to get back to Saigon,” said Esper, who noted that if fighting occurred in the north of South Vietnam, it commonly took four hours to travel back to the nation’s capital.
While impressed with the news coverage thus far, Esper said it’s too early to tell if the U.S. military has imposed any censorship on press corps members reporting from the field. Such censorship could be happening under the pretext of “security issues,” he adds.
“From what I’ve seen so far, I think it’s been excellent. It’s pretty early to tell about the access, but it looks good so far,” says Esper. “So far the military seems to be cooperating with the press on communications.”
Esper also sees no live battle coverage, with stand-ups of TV people filling the television but no in-depth coverage or footage of a U.S. helicopter that went down or of the reported deaths of two U.S. Marines.
“I see no real battle action live. I’ve seen the desert, photos of tanks … but I’ve seen nothing from those correspondents with the U.S. forces,” says Esper. “No real fighting (has been broadcast). But in all fairness, there’s been little resistance.”
Regardless of how things shape up concerning the media’s ability to cover the war unleashed on Iraq, Esper says none of today’s reporters will enjoy the unfettered access he and his colleagues had in Vietnam.
“Certainly there will never be another war like Vietnam, where you had unlimited access. You could go anywhere you wanted, as long as you had stamina and courage. The military worked to get you into the action,” says Esper.
“Being embedded with the troops is not new. We did it in Vietnam. But the difference was that we could come and leave. But here in Iraq, if you’re embedded with the troops, if you leave you can’t get back in. You don’t have the flexibility (to move to where the action is).”
Reporters and correspondents currently in Baghdad as it incurs bombardment are in constant danger, says Esper, who says they are savvy enough to know when to seek greater protection
“They’re very courageous. I can tell you that I think that most of the correspondents now – and I know them – sure they take risks. They feel dedicated to the story and dedicated to getting it out, like Peter Arnett,” says Esper, referring to his former AP colleague in Vietnam who’s covering the Iraq war for NBC News.
“You have to weigh the risks against the value of the story. And to me Baghdad is worth the risk. If I were with the AP, I would take that risk, which I did and Peter Arnett did in Vietnam when the communists captured Saigon in 1975,” says Esper. “We stayed and that was very risky. But we decided that a story this big, the conclusion of a 10-year war which divided America … to me it was a no-brainer.”
On the field of combat, Esper says the smaller the military unit a journalist travels with, the greater the risk. He says that in his beginning days in Vietnam, he would go out with a 15-man platoon of troops, not realizing the inherent dangerousness of that situation.
A company of troops provided a greater measure of safety, says Esper, while a battalion was even more secure
But missile and bomb fire like that raining down on Baghdad erases the safety-in-numbers theory, says Esper, who terms it a huge risk for any journalist to be in Baghdad during this severe aerial bombardment.
“Baghdad right now is probably the most dangerous thing to be. But people like Peter Arnett – and I’m not surprised – are staying. Because he feels that that risk, which is probably the highest risk ever, is worth the story,” says Esper. He adds that the sophisticated weaponry being used in Iraq, which didn’t exist in Vietnam, makes the current situation far more dangerous.
Esper theorizes that many media outlets have used a tactic employed by the AP in Vietnam, which involves paring staff to a minimum in order to cut down on the chances of anyone being harmed.
“You try to cut your staff so you cut your risk. Instead of having 20 people there, you might have two. But I know Peter Arnett and there’s no way he would leave (Iraq). He’s very smart, he’s very experienced, and I think he believes this is a risk worth taking,” says Esper.
Admitting he has been “glued” to his television watching the current invasion, Esper says he has the same lament he had in 1991 during the first Gulf War, when Arnett also broadcast live from Baghdad.
“I said this during Gulf War No. 1 and I’m saying it again now: I wish I could be there with Peter Arnett,” says Esper, who did get to cover the end of the 1991 conflict and its aftermath.