Learn how to be a war correspondent

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 10:45 AM Share

Wanna learn how to cover front-line combat? Read Michael Yon's column today on the death of a soldier. Written as clearly as Ernie Pyle, but without the sentimentalism that often crept into Pyle's writing. Also, frankly, Yon and others, like C.J. Chivers of the New York Times, know more about military affairs than Pyle did. What people tend to forget is that St. Ernie really was a career feature writer who spent a couple of years covering World War II.

Another difference: Someone was picking up Pyle's salary. Yon depends on reader contributions. Like you.

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GROUNDPOUNDER

5:24 PM ET

February 18, 2010

Mike Phillips, WSJ is the best by far!

He's smart, objective, succinct and honest. And his writing style doesn't come across as a snaky Columbia SOJ graduate, hopped up on Starbucks coffee!

TOM RICKS

7:10 PM ET

February 18, 2010

Hey everybody!

We found something GP likes.
Cheers,
Tom

PS--GP, what do you like about Mike's work? What makes him stand out? As someone who has been on the inside, I am curious about what people outside it see.

GROUNDPOUNDER

8:18 PM ET

February 18, 2010

For Starters.................

Like you Tom, he doesn't refer Marines as "Soldiers" when he's writing a story about Marines fighting, bleeding and dying on the battlefield. And that is in no way meant to be a slam against the brave soldiers in the Army. But damn it, we are Marines, and it really pisses us off when anyone calls us otherwise! It's a Marine thing. Secondly, Mike does his homework and gets the story right the first time. And there are never corrections or retractions printed after his articles are first published He tells a story from top to the bottom. He talks with the man at the top and works his way down the chain of command. Then he goes out on with the Marines and lives in the dirt. And he observes the Captain, lieutenants, Gunny, sergeants, corporals and lance corporals, who are the leaders within a rifle company and ultimately responsible for carrying out orders that originate at division or higher level. But what impresses me the most about Mike’s writing style, is that he refers to the individual Marines in his articles by their name, age, background, interests, rank, MOS, weapons, and hometown. He also provides Marines’ physical descriptions to include height, build along with any prominent scars or tattoos. He portrays Marines as the real people, not nameless, faceless people from nowhere. He really gets it.

GROUNDPOUNDER

1:55 PM ET

February 19, 2010

Mr. Ricks, your comments, please....

Well?

TOM RICKS

3:48 PM ET

February 19, 2010

This is weird

I posted a response (mainly thanking you last night) but apparently it fell off into outer cyberspace.

I liked your response. I have an issue with the Marines/soldiers thing--someone fighting a ground war several hundred miles from any substantial body of water doesn't strike me as a "soldier of the sea"--but that's a side matter.

Thanks again,
Tom

GROUNDPOUNDER

4:01 PM ET

February 19, 2010

WOW, Tom, Danke.......

Does that mean that I'm no longer on "double-secret probation?"

SJPONEILL

10:10 PM ET

February 18, 2010

As above

Totally agree with GP above plus I find Michael Yon writes with a simplicity, almost naivety, that I find very appealing. Certainly I have yet to see any of politicising that characterises some other writers in his work. He is also a top photographer and his images just add another dimension to his work.

I was more than happy to put in a plug for him today as well.

JOGGER

3:51 PM ET

February 19, 2010

Ernie Pyle

No disrespect to the brave reporters who are covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Yon's case doing it free-lance, but I've got to come to the defense of Ernie Pyle. About a year ago I inherited a copy of Brave Men from an uncle, a WWII vet. I re-read the book for the first time since I was in high school.

Yes, there's some 1940s sentimentalism and a necessity to mention as many names and hometowns as possible. But it's great reporting and it makes a great read. No, Pyle was didn't show the same degree of knowledge about military affairs as Ricks and Yon and others. But that wasn't his purpose. He was writing for the soldiers, marines and sailors and their families. And he wanted to give the people at home an idea of what life and death were like in the front lines.

Bottom line: kudos to our current crop of reporters but please don't trash Ernie Pyle.

NS WEBSTER

4:06 PM ET

February 19, 2010

Total agreement...

I think Yon does a good job of being there - when nobody else is - but to be entirely frank, he does not relate (and I don't think it's his intention to) the experience of the average mud-in-the-face soldier like Pyle did. Considering how long Yon's been doing this, it's somewhat disappointing - I feel like he could do a lot more.

I read Yon for perspective and higher-up knowledge, but I'm not sure I've seen more than a handful of times where he's quoted a lot of junior soldiers in any depth...sure, here and there, but I do try to remember it's not the mission Yon's undertaken.

Pyle went to tell the story of junior soldiers, from their hometowns - as Jogger says. That's the kind of coverage that's totally missing today, and it's a shame.

NS WEBSTER

4:08 PM ET

February 19, 2010

Or rather, not "nobody," just not many...

C.J. Chivers, Dexter Filkins...So there's a few great reporters, just not very many...and not as many as there should be...

TOM RICKS

4:44 PM ET

February 19, 2010

Pyling on

I think Pyle was good at what he did. You are right--he really did a good job in his purpose. I have read every word he filed from WWII. But I think his reputation has been inflated by people who don't know what he did, and what he didn't do.
Best,
Tom

NS WEBSTER

5:39 PM ET

February 19, 2010

"Inflated" is a good point

Right - people say "Ernie Pyle told the story of the war! Every nook and cranny!" And he really didn't; he offered a very limited perspective built on his own impressions and observations.

Yon - to his credit - writes and tries to observe from a larger perspective...it's just that sometimes a more Pyle-ish viewpoint might be welcome

JOGGER

5:46 PM ET

February 19, 2010

WWII reporting

Speaking of Ernie Pyle, please don't dump on Bill Mauldin either. Don't want Willie and Joe getting riled up at their age.

BTW I had always assumed that Pyle had been a sports reporter before the war. His pieces have a lot in common with the best sports reporting.

Question for FP website gurus: Why do the times listed next to the comments bear no relation to the actual time of the comment or replies?

GROUNDPOUNDER

5:59 PM ET

February 19, 2010

My guess and it's only a guess......

The outfit hosting this domain is located way, way offshore in a country located in a time zone that's 6-8 hours ahead of any time zone in CONUS.

ZACH R

5:09 PM ET

February 24, 2010

The Good, The Bad, The Demonstrably Wrong

Looks like I'm a little late to the party. I'm headed on my first trip to Afghanistan as a war correspondent for an internet site, my first time reporting from a war zone. Who else do you guys think is great at war correspondence? What is it that makes them great, what could they do better? Who is it that sucks at it, and why?