WOOD TV Runs Story Promoting Military Recruiting

Last Friday’s military recruiting protest was covered briefly on WOOD TV 8 as part of a longer story on military recruiting and the impact that the Iraq War has had on recruiting. However, as has been the case with local reporting on military recruiting over the past two years (see previous analysis of articles in the Grand Rapids Press, on FOX 17, on WZZM 13, and a half-hour special on WZZM 13), WOOD TV 8 ran a story that was essentially a two-minute long advertisement for the military that failed to seriously engage the issue military recruiting. Political reporter Rick Albin reported a military recruiter’s statements at face value without doing any independent verification or questioning the recruiter’s claims. A recent exploration of the Army’s use of public relations and the media by the Center for Media and Democracy found that the Army specifically targets the broadcast media to promote itself, designing a variety of visually “exciting” stories that appear to television producers.

The video of the story is republished below with overlays correcting the recruiter’s statements and identifying areas where the WOOD TV 8 reporter should have investigated further:

Related Posts:

1. Media Alert: Email WOOD TV 8 About Military Recruiting Story
2. Rock Station WKLQ Promoting the Military
3. Disappointing Story on Military Recruiting
4. Press Report on Military Recruiting: Nothing Critical about the Military
5. Altered Military Recruiting Ad from Grand Rapids Antiwar Group

Tags: antiwar, grand rapids, media, michigan, military, military recruiting