Embedded Journalists

Embedded journalists are reporters who work within and under the control of one side's army in a military conflict. They are attached to a specific military unit and permitted to accompany troops into combat zones. Embedded journalism allows reporters, sometimes referred to as “embeds,” a firsthand view of military action taking place in or around battlefields previously unattainable by pool reporters. While the term could be applied to other historical interactions between journalists and military personnel (e.g., during the Vietnam War), it first came to be used in the U.S. Iraq invasion in 2003. Embedded journalism was introduced by the Pentagon as a strategic response to news media who have criticized the low level of access granted during the 1991 Gulf War and in the ...