Embedded Reporting During the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq: How the Embedding of Journalists Affects Television News Reports Michael Pfau, Michel M. Haigh, Lindsay Logsdon, Christopher Perrine, James P. Baldwin, Rick E. Breitenfeldt, Joel Cesar, Dawn Dearden, Greg Kuntz, Edgar Montalvo, Dwaine Roberts, and Richard Romero This study compared embedded and nonembedded (unilateral) televi- sion news coverage during the invasion and the occupation of Iraq. Content analysis was conducted of ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN news during the invasion and during the occupation examining whether em- bedded and nonembedded news reports were different and, if so, how. The results revealed that compared to nonembedded reports, embed- ded network television news stories were more favorable in overall tone toward the military, more favorable in depictions of military per- sonnel, and featured greater use of episodic frames which, as a result, elicited somewhat more positive relational cues. In addition, the results indicated that compared to network news coverage of the occupation, news stories of the invasion were more positive in tone and employed more episodic framing. The practice of embedding journalists in military units has a long history, dating to the Civil War. However, the scope of embedding in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) has been © 2005 Broadcast Education Association Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 49(4), 2005, pp. 468–487 468 Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media/December 2005 Michael Pfau (Ph.D., University of Arizona) is Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. His research interest involves questions of social influence. Michel M. Haigh (M.S., Texas Tech University) is a doctoral student in the Department of Communication at the University of Oklahoma. Lindsay Logsdon, Christopher Perrine, James P. Baldwin, Rick E. Breitenfeldt, Joel Cesar, Dawn Dearden, Greg Kuntz, Edgar Montalvo, Dwaine Roberts, and Richard Romero were students in the Department of De- fense Joint Course in Communication at the University of Oklahoma at the time this study was conducted. They are in military public affairs: First Lieutenant Logsdon with the 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis AFB, CA; Captain Perrine with Headquarters Battalion, MCBH, Kanehoe Bay, HI; Chief Journalist Baldwin at AFN LaMaddalena, Italy; Mr. Breitenfeldt with NGB-PA, Arlington, VA; Journalist First Class Cesar at DINFOS, Fort Meade, MD; Ms. Dearden at Fort Belvoir, VA; Lieutenant Kuntz at DINFOS, Fort Meade, MD; Lieutenant Colo- nel Montalvo with the 416th Engineer Command in Darien, IL; Master Gunnery Sergeant Roberts with U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Atlantic, Norfolk, VA; and Technical Sergeant Romero with the 423rd Air Base Squad- ron, England.