Michael Yon: Hunting Al Qaeda Part III of III - How to Get Killed

michaelyon-online.com ^ | Sep 19, 2007 | Michael Yon

[neverdem]

The Silver Van

First, a recap of the end of yesterday’s mission which is important to today’s mission:

Two men had been killed on the 15 July mission. Our guys shot them. Warning shots were fired, the driver sped up and our guys rained bullets. Slugs kicked up dust, some bullets striking the van, but it kept going. A fusillade commenced, and about 20 seconds after the first shot was fired the van was getting away. It had nearly escaped. A Bradley gunner was tracking the van in his crosshairs. He squeezed the trigger on his 25mm cannon...

[af_vet_rr]

Notice in the video they refer to him as "Blogger Michael Yon".

The guy is a better American reporter than just about anybody else in Iraq - he's making a fraction of what the typical reporters make and without the support staff they haul around. He also goes into places typical reporters won't.

[txhurl]

bttt

[Lurker]

Yon must clank when he walks.

L

[doug from upland]

He is not in the military but he is risking his life to tell the story. Michael is a great American hero, and his work will become the stuff of which legends are made.

[angkor]

"The M242 Bushmaster Cannon on the M2 Bradley. Image is official U. S. National Guard photograph. Reference National Guard Operation Tarheel Thunder Website for more information. As a product of the federal government of the United States of America, copyright restrictions do not apply to this image."

[af_vet_rr]

Yup, off of one of his pages:

When my writings about Mosul started to attract a huge readership, the MSM press took notice, though not always with Tony C’s collegial tone. Many “professional journalists” sneered at my work. The most common criticism was that I lacked “objectivity” because I called enemy fighters “terrorists” when they used car bombs to blow up civilians, or because I openly admitted that as an American, I hoped “our side” would win. I seemed to get particularly bad marks for describing the outcomes of combat missions with terms like: “killed the enemy,” “shot the terrorist,” or “captured the suspects.” But in the context of the war as I was seeing it, the terminology was accurate.

[jazusamo]

Another excellent piece by Michael Yon, he’s a great reporter.

[neverdem]

Notice in the video they refer to him as "Blogger Michael Yon".

Thanks for the link. Did Yon link that video on his homepage for this report? If he did, then I missed it.

Maybe I have the wrong impression. I thought Michael Yon was an independent, primary news reporter. I thought bloggers were folks who gave serial commentaries/opinions on the news. Any corrections are always appreciated by me.

[Belasarius]

Well, when they refer to him as “Blogger” then I know he was actually on the scene. Really, they’re doing us a favor.

[Rummyfan]

Bumping and Marking!

[eureka!]

mark

[neverdem]

Times editor Blankley leaving for PR firm FWIW, the admin mod altered my post, and I can't find this thread by checking my posting chronology.

(NY) Times to Stop Charging for Parts of Its Web Site

Swedish Police Hide Threatened Cartoonist Only WaPo is carrying this AP story with this title. Has anyone seen it in other drive by media with another title?

From time to time, I’ll ping on noteworthy articles about politics, foreign and military affairs. FReepmail me if you want on or off my list.

[FlashBack]

Michael Yon’s reports are always a good read...ProTroop PING!

[stefanbatory]

Clang! for after work reading...

[Brad’s Gramma]

Thanks for the ping!

:)

[sageb1]

He depends on financial support from you and me.

[neverdem]

He depends on financial support from you and me.

That's one of the reasons that I excerpt his articles. Folks see the request for support at the end. The other is that they include so many pics.

[Gritty]

Great reporting!

[af_vet_rr]

Thanks for the link. Did Yon link that video on his homepage for this report? If he did, then I missed it.

Yes, it was buried (just a link in one sentence, he didn't have a video frame linked to it).

Maybe I have the wrong impression. I thought Michael Yon was an independent, primary news reporter.

From what I've read, he does allow his videos and photos to be used by certain news organizations, but he isn't paid for it (although it gives him exposure, which means traffic to his site).

I've actually seen some of his stuff on Fox as well as ABC - probably because Fox and ABC don't have reporters doing a fraction of what he does.

I thought bloggers were folks who gave serial commentaries/opinions on the news.

That's the thing - Yon is reporting on the real news, while the MSM is reporting a sanitized version, usually far from where the action is at. His critics maintain that because he calls the enemy "terrorists" and says "our guys" (meaning American soldiers), they think he is just another blogger, as if what he is reporting is heavily tainted by his opinions, while what they report is a mockery of what's going on.

In my mind, what the MSM reports in Iraq is more of a commentary/opinion than Yon, because you are only getting a small piece of the story - it's not even because many of them are liberal, it's because they don't want to risk their lives to get the stories.