Major Paul Smyth is one of the people responsible for changing the Ministry of Defence's approach to social media particularly in the context of front line operations. I've spoken to him previously for the Frontline Club about his Frontline bloggers......more
Daniel Bennett - Reporting War
Recently in Information Operations Category
MSF aid workers shot in Somalia
Associated Press is reporting that two people working for the aid group, Médecins Sans Frontières, have been shot in Mogadishu. At least one person is believed to have been killed. The incident is reportedly related to an internal staffing issue -......more
General Richards: The media "frequently draw the wrong conclusion" on Afghanistan
The Chief of the Defence Staff gave an annual lecture to the Royal United Services Institute last night. General Sir David Richards spoke broadly about the global environment, the response of the armed forces and particular strategic challenges.He argued that......more
Five links from 2011: 'Twitter'
I am picking out a few of the more interesting links from my 2011 delicious bookmarks. On Monday, I selected five from my 'war reporting' tag. Today, I've selected another five from among the bookmarks I labelled 'Twitter' in my delicious account. Enjoy! ......more
US Navy "burning the boats" to join social media conversation
A speech on the US Navy's approach to communications by Admiral Gary Roughead has surfaced in my Twitter feed.The Admiral is the US Chief of Naval Operations and he gave these remarks to a Public Relations Strategic Communications Summit in......more
Ministry of Defence reviewing communication strategy for a networked world
The Ministry of Defence is considering proposals that would empower more members of their staff to communicate so it can compete more effectively in a networked information environment. In particular, the MoD will decide whether to free deployed commanders from......more
The U.S. Navy's social media manual and (not) "flattening communications"
The U.S. Navy has produced a social media handbook including guidance for sailors and Navy personnel as well as a section for commanders. In the introduction, the Navy's Chief of Information, Denis Moynihan, suggests the manual is necessary because "the rapid......more
A lesson in information operations
That's what Andrew Exum at the Center for a New American Security thinks the Israeli raid on the Free Gaza flotilla provides.......more
The blog as a weapon in an era of information war
I've been doing some research into the coverage of the Gaza conflict (back end of 2008, front end of 2009) on blogs. One of the English-language blogs that covered the war was the Muqata blog.The Muqata blog was started......more
Admiral Mullen's social media strategy
The Public Affairs Office looking after Admiral Mullen has revealed his social media strategy for 2010 by sticking it up on Slideshare. Admiral Mullen is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for US forces and admitted a while......more
