Media Can Thank Rolling Stone For Pentagon Clamp Down

Media Can Thank Rolling Stone For Pentagon Clamp Down

After the Rolling Stone article which brought down Gen. Stanley McChrystal, various forms of media were patting themselves on the back at the genius of the Rolling Stone reporter.

But it was a mistake.

The Rolling Stone article was not reporting, it was the worst of the modern scandal media, stoking trouble for trouble’s sake in search of fame, based on anonymous quotes and reporter ideology. Rolling Stone burned a General and damaged the war effort without revealing a single meaningful fact.

The result, I predicted, would be significant damage to the relationship between the military and the press.

And so it has come to pass:

Nine days after a four-star general was relieved of command for comments made to Rolling Stone magazine, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates issued orders on Friday tightening the reins on officials dealing with the news media.

The memorandum requires top-level Pentagon and military leaders to notify the office of the Defense Department’s assistant secretary for public affairs “prior to interviews or any other means of media and public engagement with possible national or international implications.”

Is the Rolling Stone reporter still a rock star to his friends in the media?

Long after the Rolling Stone reporter’s name is forgotten (which was about 15 minutes after the article ran), the press and the public will have to live with the consequences.

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Related Posts:
I Hope Rolling Stone Is Happy
Has Anyone — Including McChrystal — Actually Read The Rolling Stone Article?

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