British media cuts deal with Ministry of Defense to keep silent - thoughts?

[mogster]

Prince Harry is back safe, thank god.

But what's more dubious is the deal cut between all British media and the Ministry of Defense to keep mum about him playing around in Afghanistan. What do you think about it?
How did this deal come to be?

[acmavm]

1. He was 'playing' around if Afganistan? Which one of Mitt's sons are you?

[mogster]

3. The seventh son

Oh, you bit into the 'bullet magnet' propaganda? Sweet.

[acmavm]

11. Some people bitch that the rich and powerful don't do the right thing and

share the danger of serving like an ordinary person has to, and then when someone does you bitch again because he didn't paint a fucking target on his back and the back's of those serving closest to him.'

Have you been over there yet? When are you going?

[mogster]

13. Oh, shut up

This isn't about the rich and powerful and you know it.

[acmavm]

16. Don't tell me to shut up you clown. This ISN'T the big fucking deal that

you are trying to make it up to be either. This isn't the Downing Street Minutes dipshit. This is a matter of trying to keep the troops safe.

[mogster]

17. 'Mitt's sons', 'Have you been over there' and now 'clown'

You have a strange way of debating ;-)

This isn't about troops or royal kids, it's about the media of a whole country meeting with the Brit govt., agreeing to shut up and then keeping their mouth shut. Not to mention the giant propaganda stunt it was made out to be in the aftermath. I happen to live in a country that is in the recieving end of that propaganda, and don't like it.
Please try to stay on topic and don't divert attention by insults and flak.

[acmavm]

19. Propaganda stunt? You're a fool. Don't annoy me anymore.

[mogster]

20. Awright

I won't ;-)

Chill now.
And have a nice Monday :hi:

[malaise]

2. As I asked

what else are they blacking out from the public.

It's fugging madness.

[mogster]

4. Yes, and how can a deal like that be made with free media

Who do you contact to get _all_ media to shut up about it?

[malaise]

6. Well the M$M cartel in the US have clearly all agreed to

blackout all bad news in Iraq and Afghanistan. No surprise at all.

[mikehiggins]

5. Don't care for the Brits but this one seems the right thing to do

Give Harry kudos for having the guts to go on the front lines, even if he doesn't have the smarts to know nobody should be there in the first place. Still and all, just being there would make him a prime target for the enemy (not "terrorists", "insurgents", "rebels" or whatever other label the Bushoids and MSM put on them). You may recall a famous Brit, member of the royal family, who was targeted by the IRA years ago (much more successfully, as it happened). I would imagine everyone learned that lesson very well.

I'm sure the families of the other soldiers in that unit are not upset that nobody painted bulleyes on their kids backs for a media show.

[malaise]

7. One grand PR stunt

to clean up his drunken image.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2947933

[mogster]

9. You are so right, lol

Look at the BBC articles:

Prince Harry enjoys off-duty moments

'Queen told me I was off to Afghanistan'

Harry on nickname 'The bullet magnet'

'I think my mum would be proud of me'

HARRY IN THE ARMY


LATEST NEWS
Prince Harry rejects 'hero' label
No quick return to war for Harry
Charles proud of returning Harry
Prince returns from Afghanistan
'Harry will be missed by troops'
Harry withdrawn from Afghanistan

FEATURES
In pictures
How Prince Harry spent some of his 10 weeks on the front line

What next for Prince Harry?
Why the BBC withheld story
Who is Matt Drudge?
'As normal as I'm going to get'
In quotes: Harry's experiences
Profile: Prince Harry

HAVE YOUR SAY
Should Harry have come home?

This is one newspaper only.

[malaise]

21. Bullshit also sells papers

:puke:

[CJCRANE]

8. The other news blackout

was about the British hostages in Iraq. I think that's more important.

On edit:

"It was the most significant development in months for a hostage drama that has been the subject of a news blackout since the expert and his four civilian bodyguards were seized in Baghdad on May 29 last year".

Gordon Brown in British hostage talks

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/27/whostage227.xml

[Echo In Light]

10. Cry 'God for Harry, England and St George'

By George Galloway

As the peerless John Pilger put it, the invasion of Iraq would have been impossible without the supine connivance of the British media. The BBC was as much a part of operations as the Black Watch:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19449.htm

[mogster]

12. Here's their defense

Why we agreed to a media blackout on Harry
Discussions started in the middle of last year to find out if Prince Harry could be deployed to a war zone without the huge publicity and controversy that surrounded a previous attempt to send him to fight in Iraq.

The prince was desperate to join his army colleagues in the front line. Army chiefs wanted him to go to war like any other young officer who had been expensively trained for the task. It seemed pretty clear that his family wanted him to fulfil his ambitions too.

Editors across the UK media have known since last December that the prince was fighting the Taliban. Until they were told that he would be going to war fewer than 20 people knew of the plans. The secret was then kept close among senior journalists on a need-to-know basis. Even high-ranking officers, junior government ministers and staff at the prince's home, Clarence House, were not told at first.

Editors accepted a purely voluntary "understanding" with the Ministry of Defence that specifically stated that the blackout applied only to his military duties in Afghanistan and not to any of his other hobbies or activities, such as late night socialising.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/feb/29/pressandpublishing.television

'The secret was then kept close among senior journalists on a need-to-know basis.'
Ok, let's say somebody didn't want to go along with it, what would have happened?
One could say a ceratin group pressure was a part of the deal, I guess?

[northzax]

14. it is a carrot and stick

philosophy. (and remember, there is no first amendment) but even in the us there are de facto news blackouts all the time. If you don't play ball, you lose access, you have to make the decision on a case by case basis whether any particular story is worth burning your bridges and sources.

[mogster]

18. You are right

The same thing goes on over in the US. Look at this Bill Moyers video:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02292008/watch4.html
James Risen is being silenced, and he's only one of many.

But I'm not so interested in the result as I am interested in the process. How does a meeting of this caliber being arranged, who's present and how do they agree; in writing or by handshake? How is this known outside the UK, and how did Drudge get hold of the story?
What if this is a planned propaganda stunt from the outset, where Harry is made to be a couple of months in Afghanistan, then 'outed' for a propaganda opera, timed to fit the current needs?
What is coincidence and what is planned?

On edit:
A recent Norwegian poll shows that 50% oppose the participation of Norw. troops in the ISAF, while only 36% agree. The pressure on the Norw. Labour govt. is high, as the coalition partner Socialist Left was strongly opposed to the invasion in 2001. At the same time, the notorius extreme right plays both the Norw. and the Afghanistani opinion by the constant publishing of Muhammed cartoons and other insults. There were large demonstrations in northern Afgh. recently against Danish and Dutch troops, by people that should be on our side.

[CJCRANE]

15. The dilemma is really about royalty.

Harry wants to be treated just like everyone else.

But he also wants to keep his inherited title and privileges.