Embedded journalist

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An embedded journalist is a news reporter who is attached to a military unit involved in an armed conflict. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United States military responded to pressure from the country's news media who were disappointed by the level of access granted during the 1991 Gulf War and in the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The military offered journalists, sometimes referred to as "embeds", the opportunity to undergo a period of boot camp-style training before being allowed into the combat zone. Some critics felt that the level of oversight was too strict and that embedded journalists would make reports that were too sympathetic to the American side of the war, leading to use of the alternate term "inbedded journalist" or "inbeds". Nonetheless, grainy video transmitted via satellite videophone became enduring images of the conflict, and some journalists were on hand to capture controversial moments.