An Opportunity To Improve Upon The Us Military Media Relationship Institutionalizing Embedded Media Into The Mainstream Military

Following nearly each U.S. conflict abroad, the U.S. military-media relationship has been dramatically altered. Each alteration was an attempt to "fix" what was perceived to have gone wrong with the U.S. military-media relationship in the previous conflict rather than to optimize it for a future conflict. The U.S. can no longer afford to experiment with the military-media relationship now that the character of warfare has changed as a result of the rapid and broad dissemination of information on and away from the battlefield. Embedded media are a critical capability for the U.S. military within this new character of warfare where our news-oriented culture has an expectation for immediate access to the latest information. Institutionalizing embedded media into the mainstream military, by consistently integrating them throughout the planning, training and execution of U.S. Military operations, will help to narrow the cultural gap between the U.S. Armed Forces and the American public and will also work with and not against significant advances in communication technologies. Institutionalizing embedded media into the mainstream military will help to better serve the future interests of the American public and the goals of the United States.