Have you ever LISTENED to John Madden? ;^)
My point is that all they would see is the action directly in front of them - and their observational skills would be severely influenced by their sacred desire to avoid a pancaking by 240-300 pound world class atheletes running through their personal space at bursts of around 25 miles per hour.
The only thing that ABC announcing crew can report on a typical play is ... "When the ball was snapped, all hell broke loose, and there was a huge blur that sped past me, it might have been Ray Lewis, and he only missed running full speed over me by less than 2 inches. That was close. To repeat, I saw what appeared to be a running play, but then all I saw was a lot of fast and violent movemement, and what could have been Ray Lewis barely missed me. To add further details, I heard plastic protective pads and helmets loudly cracking, a pounding of feet on the turf - and a horrible grunting. The outcome of the play and the location of the ball is at this point not clear."
That's what real time war journalism is worth. The risks to these guys and the soldiers who protect them isn't worth the return in news.
The only thing that ABC announcing crew can report on a typical play is ... "When the ball was snapped, all hell broke loose, and there was a huge blur that sped past me, it might have been Ray Lewis, and he only missed running full speed over me by less than 2 inches. That was close. To repeat, I saw what appeared to be a running play, but then all I saw was a lot of fast and violent movemement, and what could have been Ray Lewis barely missed me. To add further details, I heard plastic protective pads and helmets loudly cracking, a pounding of feet on the turf - and a horrible grunting. The outcome of the play and the location of the ball is at this point not clear."
That's what real time war journalism is worth. The risks to these guys and the soldiers who protect them isn't worth the return in news.
As I have stated in earlier posts, the media will not be satisfied to wait until the "game is over" to report on the outcome. They do not care if they see the ass-end of a lineman for the entire game as long as it they are involved in the process. If the media waits until the end of the game to report the score, its no longer "news". The same thinking is now being applied to war reporting.
The DOD kept all journalists on the sidelines for their own individual safety in GWI and got ripped for it by the media. Now they're embedded and they share the same risks as soldiers. The media cannot be 100% safe reporting a war and be involved in the provess. They cannot have it both ways.