JEFF EMANUEL looks at embedded journalists in Iraq:

While embedding may be decried by some for causing journalists, who claim the utopian titles of “objective” and “neutral” for their reportage, to lose their cold detachment and actually begin to see the soldiers they live alongside as humans, it is that very quality that makes the practice of embedding reporters with military units so beneficial to both parties. Rather than observing events from a safely detached distance–and thus being able to remove the human element from the equation–embedded reporters are forced to face up to the humanity of their subjects, and to share common experiences–often of the life-and-death variety–with those they are covering.

The military should encourage a lot more of this.