Some of you blokes need a lesson in recognising the real enemy.
The enemy is not the press, and especially not this particular journo.
I understand that suspicion of the press is endemic in the forces, and there are some good reasons for this, though anyone with any intelligence would recognise that the reality of the situation is very much more complicated. The Media contains friends and foes, and can be both helpful and harmful, and as such demands a more sophisticated approach.
So what sort of enemy is Mr Yon?
One who concludes that:
“My relationship with the British military is not diminished and I would go into combat with their soldiers anytime. My respect for British soldiers is immense and undying.”
One whose dispatches have been extraordinary, highly professional, incredibly moving documents that really do highlight the magnificent work that the UK forces have been doing in Afghanistan.
Mr Yon is an opponent of Government parsimony, and supports proper funding for the forces.
“My best guess is that it relates to my sustained criticism that the British government is not properly resourcing its soldiers.”
Mr Yon wants the West to win, and he’s an admirer, generally, of the UK Forces, and even our media ops people.
”Many soldiers in the British Media Ops are true professionals who strive constantly to improve at their tasks and work very well with correspondents. Their professionalism and understanding of the larger mission—ultimate victory—provide an invaluable service to the war effort.”
But Mr Yon does not expect to have to submit written questions and to be supplied with pre-prepared ‘spin’ answers.
He criticizes MCOs who
“want correspondents to submit written questions so they can provide tidy answers.”
Mr Yon believes that the public deserve to be told the truth, and that that is not happening. He believes that while we are spending billions and shedding the blood of the best of a generation, we should not be dealing in spin and lies.
He points out that:
”The British people are demanding truth and they deserve accountability. They aren’t getting it from Camp Bastion.”
“This war is moving fast and there is no time for games. If a general does not want to tell his story, someone will tell it for him. He will have failed by losing another winnable media battle.”
Mr Yon believes that when Media Ops people deny particular problems (eg the shortage of helicopters) it can actually undermine our combat capability, because it reduces the pressure on the politicians to give our boys the kit they need and deserve.
The proper and honourable answer to a shortage of body armour in Iraq was not to deny that any such shortage existed, but to quickly rectify such deficiencies. He says:
” Media Ops people—who do not leave their base or go on missions—who are spooling out “the message” to the media. They are clueless about the state of the war in Afghanistan. For instance, many of the Media Ops officers will insist that we have enough helicopters in Afghanistan. Those officers are either completely oblivious to the actuality of the situation or lying.
General Petraeus told me straight up that we don’t have enough and that we doubled our helicopters in the last four months and are in the process of fielding “two more fistfuls.” (He did not give specific numbers.) Those BS-filled officers who deny the obvious are, in fact, symptomatic to why we are losing the war.”
“By perpetrating falsehoods that undermine our combat capacity, XXXX (a named Media Ops Officer)
has helped the enemy.”
He’s just as critical of politicians who put out such spin.
”Mr. Ainsworth is lying to the British public about the helicopter issue in Afghanistan. Mr. Ainsworth tells the British public that British soldiers have enough helicopters. British troops are suffering—even dying—for those lies. Mr. Ainsworth is, in effect, murdering British soldiers by not resourcing them.”
I have to say that, as a journo, I think that Mr Yon makes good points in a pretty level headed and calm fashion (apart from the last criticism of Ainsworth, which is pretty explosive). But if you’re in the armed forces (an aggressive organization with an enviable reputation for being robust and used to ‘harsh banter’) and you think this is a rant, then seriously, you need to get out more.
I sympathise with the view that Yon's blog is pretty self-centred, but that’s because it’s a blog, and that’s what blogs are all about. If it was a piece in the Telegraph complaining that “he's not the story, but he seems to be in danger of thinking he should be” would be spot on. That's not good print journalism – but it’s what columnists and bloggers do.
And he highlights a real problem.
With some notable and honourable exceptions (especially among the blue-suiters in Main Building), the MoD’s media ops machine is broken. Tailored to providing
PR for the Government, and to safeguarding the interests of Government Ministers, it fails to properly look after the interests of the individual services that the MoD exists to support and it regularly leaves the Forces looking bad.
One feels sorry for the good apples, like Tim Moore, who added a heartfelt comment to Yon’s bulletin. Kudos to Nick Gurr (Director of Media and Communications MOD) for his response, too.
UK media ops people are not all REMFS and purveyors of spin, of course, but the very small minority who are, represent grit in the machine.
As a working journo I would say that MoD Media Ops people and MCOs seldom do you (as servicemen) any good, and they very frequently exasperate, alienate, aggravate, frustrate and infuriate journos, sometimes driving on-side and supportive journos into wanting to give the MoD a darned good kicking.
This cannot be helpful.
I recognize Mr Yon’s complaint about MCOs
”threatening future access if a correspondent shows “attitude”, too.