The military‐media relationship‐A time to redress the balance?

As any relationship, that between the military and the media is constantly changing. In the recent war in Bosnia a new phase started where the media, now more powerful than ever before, were constantly to challenge the military. In this article Major Edwards discusses the growth of media influence and what effects it has on the military in a war situation. He argues that, although the media can pose a threat to the military it also presents an opportunity for military personnel to present their case to the world more effectively and thereby ‘shape the battlefield. What is of paramount importance is that Commanders pay considerably more attention to their media operations than has previously been the ‘case and also realise that they can use access to information as a bargaining tool which may encourage the media to exercise more self‐restraint in future. In the final analysis it is a two‐way relationship where the media and the military have to work together.