IRAQ MEDIA

Editor & Publisher: 30 Media Outlets Protest Treatment in Iraq

In two separate letters to the Pentagon, the press claims that U.S.
troops are harassing journalists in Iraq and sometimes confiscating equipment,
digital camera disks and videotapes. The Associated Press Managing
Editors (APME) wrote a letter of protest to Larry Di Rita, acting assistant
secretary of defense for public affairs... The harassment has deprived
'the American public of crucial images from Iraq in newspapers, broadcast
stations and online news operations.'... Separately, 30 media
organizations, lead by The Associated Press, fired off their own letter
to Di Rita, saying they have 'documented numerous examples of U.S. troops
physically harassing journalists,' according to a report... The letter
was signed by representatives from CNN, ABC, The Boston Globe, Newhouse
News Service, and many others. 'It's back to the bad old days where
journalists are being treated as adversaries,' AP Washington Bureau Chief Sandy
Johnson told the Globe.