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How NOT To Treat The Media

By Keith Cowing
NASA Watch
August 14, 2014
Filed under

Failed Intercept Attempt in Huntsville: Conference Bungles Press at SMD 2014, Aviation Week
“In the next session, with USNORTHCOM chief Adm. Charles Jacoby, Stewart approached the three of us media and said she’d heard we were taking pictures of the presentations and slides. This is not allowed, she said, and she would have officers compel us to remove these files from our phones. The three of us noted her concerns but declined; she eventually walked away. Anticipating a phone show down, I tweeted the slides.”
‘Ham-handed’ treatment of national media at Huntsville Space and Missile Defense conference sends a bad message: opinion, Huntsville Times
“During his presentation to the full room of SMD attendees, [Vice Admiral James Syring, Director of the Missile Defense Agency] showed a series of slides detailing work done by MDA. Using slides is a common procedure at such conferences and it’s typical for reporters and others to take pictures and post the slides to social media or use them for future reference when writing about the presentation. At the bottom of Syring’s slides were the words “Approved for Public Release.” [Amy Butler senior Pentagon editor for Aviation Week] started tweeting images of 12 slides in succession. At the bottom of Syring’s slides were the words “Approved for Public Release.” Butler started tweeting images of 12 slides in succession. That’s when things took a turn for the worse.”
Essay: Censorship, Police Intimidation at Missile Defense Conference, Defense News
“Reporters and even patrons were sternly warned by on-site security not to take photos anywhere in the Von Braun Center, even though there was no mention of such a policy in writing, on signs or on the conference website. During Syring’s speech, a number of reporters tweeted pictures of his briefing slides that contained historical information about US missile defense tests conducted over the past 20 years. The slides were marked “Approved for Public Release.”

NASA Watch founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.

13 responses to “How NOT To Treat The Media”

  1. Marc Boucher says:
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    I encountered a similar issue at the AIAA Propulsion and Energy 2014 conference. During one session I arrived a few minutes into the talk. I then began recording the session and taking pictures. I was advised, by I believe the session chair, quietly, that the speaker (from NASA) did not want pictures taken of the slides. Ironically similar images from the slides were on display in larger format at the NASA exhibit booth. I took pictures of those and Tweeted them with NASA personnel at the booth indifferent at my action.

  2. wwheaton says:
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    Typical paranoid, military, bureaucratic, legalistic knee-jerk protectionism. Thanks for calling it out. Let’s hear it for independent journalism !!

  3. cb450sc says:
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    This is a pretty common policy, actually. The issue is whether the speakers have been informed ahead of time that the slides will be publicly posted. Many speakers might have given a slightly different talk depending on their target audience, particularly if they know a priori whether certain individuals (e.g. rivals, etc) will see the delivery directly.

  4. AgingWatcher says:
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    There is an entire industry of people — so-called public relations professionals — who exist primarily to keep news media on as short a leash as possible. Good reporters resist ’em at every turn. But good reporters are in decreasing supply these days, and things have reached the point where it’s almost a minor miracle when actual, ground-breaking news gets reported.

    • Chris Holmes says:
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      Sorry, I have to take issue with this. I am a veteran reporter with more than 30 years experience in all forms of journalism, now working as a PR executive with a government agency. Good PR people aren’t there to obstruct information gathering; they’re there to ensure the correct information gets out. I doubt seriously that any true PR professional would undertake such heavy-handed tactics with accredited media. If anybody did this in a public venue they would immediately be forced to explain why – on camera, on tape, on the record. And if they didn’t what would result is exactly what Marc and Keith have posted, an embarrassing account of how some people just don’t know what they’re doing. Pros don’t do this.

      • AgingWatcher says:
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        I must respectfully disagree. I did print journalism for a little over 20 years before I segued (as many former colleagues have) into a different profession. I did not move into public relations. When I worked for newspapers, I rubbed elbows with PR folks with some regularity, with numerous opportunities to observe their work at close proximity. Occasionally, they were helpful. Most often, however, they were all about controlling the flow of information and influencing the slant of stories to their employers’ advantage. Thankfully, effective reporters are aware of the dynamic. Even in today’s unhappy media environment, there remain good reporters who follow their noses to whatever place solid reporting leads them. Every now and then, actual news even gets broken. Usually this happens despite the benevolent influence of public relations professionals, and most certainly not because of it.

  5. Jan Stupl says:
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    Some more details, seems it was really bad. Defensenews is not really the Guardian 😉
    http://www.defensenews.com/

    • MarcNBarrett says:
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      This is tangential to this discussion, but reading this article, I am reminded of an article by Mark Steyn about the Ferguson incidents. Putting the two together — armed cops at a routine trade show, cops in military gear in a medium-sized city — what I am seeing is the militarization of America, at almost all levels. I hope I am just being paranoid.

      Steyn article here:
      http://www.steynonline.com/

      • Michael Spencer says:
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        Add the willingness of ordinary Americans to fund a stunning ‘defense’ department, plus our willingness to use it in foreign intervention.