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[David]

I'm not sure if this is better suited in TV, but I posted it here anyway:

MoD bans ITN's embeds


Leigh Holmwood
Friday October 27, 2006
MediaGuardian.co.uk


The Ministry of Defence has confirmed to ITN that it will officially ban its reporters from being embedded with British troops, prompting the news broadcaster to appeal directly to the defence secretary, Des Browne, to intervene.
The MoD told ITN in a letter this afternoon that it had officially decided to ban its journalists following a report ITV news broadcast last week on the treatment of injured British soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The ministry had accused ITN of inaccuracies and invading the privacy of one soldier and threatened to take legal action against it as well as banning its reporters from the embed system.

The two parties had spent all week trying to resolve the situation, but in this afternoon's letter it is understood the MoD told ITN that it could not currently trust it and that it was officially banning it from embedding with UK troops.

The ITN chief executive, Mark Wood, said the news broadcaster would now appeal directly to Mr Browne to have the ban lifted.

"We stand by the journalistic integrity of our reports," he said. "They are robust, well sourced and in the public interest. We find it alarming the MoD has taken this step. We consider this to be a flagrant abuse."

One senior ITN source said the organisation was "seething" over the decision and said it "struck at the heart of democracy".

The first casualty will be reporter Bill Neely's trip to Afghanistan to cover Remembrance Day services with British troops there.

An MoD spokesman had not returned calls by the time of publication.