Censorship; the Canadian News Media and Afghanistan

Official censorship of the news media by the Canadian government has only occurred twice in the history of the nation: during the First and Second World Wars. Yet, the news media was quick to use the word "censorship" when the first ground rules agreement for the news media was developed by the Canadian Forces during the 1991 Persian Gulf War to restrict what journalists aboard its ships could write about. Canada's involvement in the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan provides a rich opportunity to examine whether the Canadian news media faces either official or unofficial censorship in its reporting on the war in Kandahar, the Canadians' area of responsibility. It also provides an opportunity to conduct case study research and to compare and contrast the Canadian news media's coverage of selected Canadian combat operations during the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the 1999 Kosovo air war, and in Afghanistan. This study suggests that journalists and the military alike have both been involved in censorship at different times and to varying degrees throughout these conflicts.