Milblogging: How the Troops' Writing Affects Our View of the War
Military blogs (milblogs) have played an increasingly important role in not only the dissemination of battlefield information in real time, but also in shaping how Americans view the troops and the wars in which they’re fighting. In recent years, milblogs both supportive and critical of the war effort in Iraq have sprung up across the blogosphere. Some, like VetVoice and Blackfive, have even evolved into online communities for troops and veterans. This panel will explore the implications of milblogs on military policy by discussing them with three veterans who blog and a traditional media military reporter.
Kevin Maurer has been embedded with the U.S. Special Forces and 82nd Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq ten times in the last five years. Maurer covered the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan's first parliamentary election. Most recently, he covered the Bush Administration's surge into Baghdad, and wrote the definitive piece about the transformation of Khost from a terrorist haven to a working province in Afghanistan. He currently works for the Associated Press.
Alex Horton created and maintains the blog Army of Dude and writes for VetVoice.com. He lives in Austin, TX, but says "No, you cannot crash on my couch during the convention."
Richard Smith enlisted in the US Army at the age of 18. In 2007, he deployed to Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne Division and served as a non-commissioned officer for 14 months. During this deployment, he began blogging from the front lines on the VoteVets.org blog "VetVoice" under pseudonym "RockRichard". Richard has also written at Daily Kos, Attackerman, the defunct Wordsmiths blog, and the randomly updated Rock the Boat. He has been quoted or featured in the Wall Street Journal, New Yorker magazine, the Washington Independent, on Air America Radio, Indie Talk Radio, and several other media outlets.
A vice chairman of VoteVets.org, Brandon Friedman is editor of the blog VetVoice and author of "The War I Always Wanted." Brandon served as an infantry officer in the Army's 101st Airborne Division in Afghanistan and Iraq, where he was involved in ground combat on a number of occasions. Friedman's writing has been featured on new media outlets to include the UK's Guardian Unlimited, The Huffington Post, and Daily Kos among others. He has also appeared on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, and C-SPAN. Brandon holds a master's degree in public policy and administration from the University of Texas at Dallas.
