Blog
08.08
Leave it to the military to invent "Reverse Embedding"
Just typing that looks like espionage, subterfuge or some deleted scene from "The Bourne Identity," does it not?
In a highly recommended story for all my fellow flacks, Yahoo! News' John Cook, tells a tale of USMC enlisted folks acting the part of media interns learning how to develop the reports that eventually get leaked on national news breaching national security... or show delightful human interest angles overseas.
But a less widely known practice is the Pentagon's occasional "reverse embed," which permits active-duty service personnel to serve as interns in major media companies — sometimes in an editorial capacity — gleaning insights and intelligence into how media organizations operate, and perhaps helping to shape the way they cover the military.
Who ever was the four-star General that came up with this idea deserves a post from his bucket list. This is a glorious idea because how many work skills do these brave men and women secure while protecting our behinds here in the states? Not many... and now they can.
Under the Training With Industry (TWI) program, and others like it, military officers can leave the service for up to a year to work for private companies. The idea is to allow them to gain skills and insights outside the military that can help them with both their future career development and their present military mission.
Another reason is that although it may seem a burden to carry along ABC's Jake Tapper for some top secret scurge in Islamabad, having him there shows there is more to covering the military than some political bent.
Now imagine one of those reporters following Jake home, or enter your fave reporter's name here, and getting a glimpse of the story-making process from the inside.
That guy will think he went back to boot camp when he hears the dulcet tones of some half-crazed news director on a Xanex-induced tirade extoling the greatness of the competitors because they beat him to a story... and how said reporter will be fired if that happens again.
Not that this scenario has ever been played out in a media market near you, but I'm just sayin'.
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