
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991                   TAG: 9103010707
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CAN'T RELY ON PRESS TO CENSOR ITSELF

Robert O'Neil argues (Horizon section article, Feb. 17) that the press should have "maximum access" to all information the military could provide about the Gulf War. His most important argument is that the Bill of Rights guarantees freedom of the press. In my view, this is the freedom to publish any fact, opinion or rumor the press chooses. It does not mean that the press must be granted access to all facts in the government's possession, including military strategy books and intelligence.

In this "TV war," any information provided to the American public is necessarily provided to Saddam Hussein. For obvious strategic reasons, the military wants to keep some information from the Iraqi military. Journalists recognize this and wish to do nothing that would jeopardize allied lives.

Who, then, decides what information to provide and what to withhold? The "army" of reporters that has descended on the Gulf includes many with little training or knowledge of military strategy, who cannot be expected to understand the full importance of all the information they might obtain in an unfettered environment. To protect critical intelligence, the military has to ban entire categories of information.

What can happen when members of the press violate the military's rules is sadly illustrated by the four CBS newsmen captured by Iraqi forces. The crew was led by an experienced war correspondent, Bob Simon; one shudders to think of the consequences if less experienced newspeople were given free rein in movement and information-gathering. The lives of allied soldiers might be unwittingly sacrificed by the bad judgment of news teams.

I am not so naive as to believe everything the military tells us about the war. But minimizing allied casualties requires limits on information made available to the press, and these limits must be determined by the military. THEODORE D. FULLER BLACKSBURG

by CNB