Embedded Journalism and American Media Coverage of Civilian Casualties in Iraq

Abstract

During the eight-year war in Iraq that lasted from March 2003 until December 2011, two kinds of journalists reported on the war, those who were with the military (embedded) and those who were not (unilateral). The embedding process, created by the Pentagon and implemented for the first time in Iraq, has been highly criticised and singled out as a key factor in the low American media coverage of civilian casualties compared to coverage of coalition casualties. This research paper seeks to use statistical data collected from the New York Times’ coverage during the second week of the invasion of Iraq to evaluate the legitimacy of this criticism. This research will compare embedded and unilateral coverage by isolating those articles that include coverage of civilian casualties and coalition casualties. This study has practical implications for the embed/unilateral debate in the context of human rights discourse in the media.