Iraq war journalism 'sanitised'

Coverage was constrained by broadcasting standards

A report commissioned by the BBC has found that reporters "embedded" with military units during the war in Iraq gave a sanitised picture of events.

Closeness to the units did not make reporters less objective, the study by the Cardiff School of Journalism says.

However, it concludes that British broadcasting culture made it impossible to show the full horror of war.

There was concern that coverage took viewers closer to war, yet excluded the ugly side of that reality.

Criticisms unfounded

The study was commissioned by the BBC following concerns that the practice of embedding reporters, adopted for the first time in the US-led war against Iraq, could compromise journalistic standards.

The eight-person research team that prepared the report said they found little evidence to support some of the most prominent criticisms of the embed programme.

They said embedded journalists were not necessarily "in bed" with the military of the US and British governments.

MAIN POINTS OF THE REPORT Interference and censorship were less than expected Media in general tended to be more pro-Government than anti-war No real evidence to suggest that embeds added to the abundance of misleading reports Culture of British broadcasting made it impossible to show the full horror of war Concern that the media underplayed the ugly realities of the conflict

"Most of the journalists involved made efforts to protect their objectivity, and on key issues, were demonstrably able to do so," said the report.

The authors said that embedded reporters actually provided a more balanced account than some studio-based journalists, who were sometimes "inadvertently tilted towards certain pro-war assumptions".

They said embedded reporters did not add significantly to the abundance of rumours and misleading reports during the war.

In the case of stories such as the alleged uprising in Basra - later proved unfounded - they were merely passing information given to them by their military units, while in other cases they were able to correct misleading claims made by military sources.

'Made for TV'

However, the team were concerned that, for "entirely laudable" reasons, it was impossible to show particularly violent or graphic images on British television.

Journalists were aware of this and fashioned their coverage accordingly, with the result that people felt they were watching a "made for TV" version of war that was sanitised and almost fictional.

The report said: "It may be that embedded reporters are, despite often diligent objectivity and undoubted courage, forced by current constraints to produce a kind of coverage which may, for some, make war appear more acceptable."

The authors said there was no great demand from viewers for frontline coverage.

They said that for many people, what was missing during the conflict was a broader analysis, especially in relation to how Iraqi people saw and experienced the conflict.