Second blog post, article analysis

Billions were spent, but who’s counting? – By David Pugliese

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/literacy/raiseareader/Billions+were+spent+counting/9513129/story.html

            The story begins like any other article in a newspaper. The author works to establish a set piece and a context for the reader to become immersed in the topic before getting into the gritty, technical details. The anecdote regarding the cargo planes is supposed to appeal to the reader’s more personal and emotional sensibilities. From the start, he wants people to become indignant about where their tax money is going. Quickly, he transitions into quotes from a reliable source on the subject and a native of Afghanistan, likely in a deliberate attempt to provide a non-Canadian perspective.

            As a whole, the article fits Pugliese’s style of criticism towards the Canadian military, especially in regards to Afghanistan. In this article, he addresses the financial implications of the Afghanistan mission, noting how lack of oversight and corruption has led to unnecessary losses of Canadian tax dollars. He continues to relate these losses to far greater ones in the American military, essentially generalizing this as a problem of the Afghanistan mission itself, not just Canada.

            Pugliese’s biases are made very clear in the article, although they were generally known to his readers already. Many of the statements are qualified with little phrases such as “critics say”, which come off as an attempt to veil his own personal opinions through the words of spectral ‘critics’. He provided no source, and although his claim is perfectly reasonable and undoubtedly true for many people, his own opinions shine through. This article, although filled with content and analysis, fits snugly into his predictable views on the Canadian military. Personally, I might have tried to provide a more alternative perspective. However, his readers likely know what to expect and his intentions do not appear deceptive. After all, I suppose there is little in the way of an ‘alternative perspective’ when it comes to corruption and financial loss. Yet, his reports of the audits are relatively pessimistic, again harkening to broader notions of criticism as opposed to complete objectivity. The phrases he makes referring to the government’s response on the issue are few and far between, little more than appeasement.

            The author seems to have difficulty writing for an audience which is both educated and uneducated in terms of military affairs. The piece starts out simplistic and easy to follow, yet devolves further and further into technical jargon. He seems to have a difficulty in balancing the article between his regular readers and newcomers to his work. This is not necessarily a problem (quality journalism has to sacrifice widespread appeal, I feel), yet I believe the article may suffer as a result of it. Much of his content is self-referencing in terms of knowledge he has written about and contexts he has previously established. This allows him to shorten the length of his articles without sacrificing depth, which I truly appreciate.

            The article is heavily anecdotal, yet the anecdotes are likely an effort to make the article more digestible for readers as opposed to the primary sources of his claims. Overall, the article is an excellent example of Pugliese’s specialized knowledge in regards to defence affairs.

David Pugliese

David Pugliese is a writer for the Ottawa Citizen, specializing in issues pertaining to the Canadian Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces. He was born in Ottawa, and began writing for the Citizen in 1989. He has a diploma from Algonquin College in Radio and Television Broadcasting, a degree in Political Science from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and a degree in Journalism from Carleton University.

 He currently runs a blog for the Ottawa Citizen titled Defence Watch (launched in 2007), which presents general news pertaining to the Canadian military as well as his opinion and investigative pieces. Alongside this work, Pugliese has done freelance work for over a dozen publications, and has provided commentary on defence issues for numerous radio and television programs, such as the CBC National and Newsworld, CTV News and for BBC Radio. He also has a history of travelling to conflict zones where the Canadian Forces are involved. These places include Bosnia, Sudan, Croatia and Afghanistan.

Pugliese’s work has often centered on criticizing politics relevant to military issues in Canada, as well as the government’s policies in regards to the military. Recently, he has taken to commenting more and more on external governmental influences on the military, as well as relevant talking points in Canadian politics. Notably, he has spent more time on discussing recent cuts to the DND by the Harper government as well as political discussion regarding benefits for veterans. Throughout his career, he has worked to inform Canadians on military missions or explaining the inner workings of the DND. On his more investigative side, he works to hold the military accountable through exposing scandal, misinformation, inefficiencies or corruption. His insights are widely considered indispensable, and he has a reputation as one of Canada’s key ‘watchdogs’ of the military, keeping the institution in check.

He is the author of two best-selling books on military special operations forces. The first, published in 2002 is “Canada’s Secret Commandos: the Unauthorized Story of Joint Task Force Two” which looks at the history and role of Canada’s Joint Task Force 2, which is our largest counter-terrorism and special operations unit. Pugliese published “Shadow Wars: Special Forces in the New Battle Against Terrorism” in 2003, which details missions for a variety of Special Forces units in a post-9/11 world. Pugliese’s reporting on defence issues also earned him three National Newspaper Awards, one of the most prestigious journalism awards in Canada. The first was in 2002 for his reporting of defence issues and the other two were in 2007, one for his ongoing coverage of military affairs and the other for an article written on the politics behind the Canadian mission in Afghanistan.

Pugliese is considered a controversial figure in the DND, with labels ranging from ‘honourable’ to ‘unpatriotic’. Regardless, his work is highly influential, and as a native of Ottawa myself, it’s interesting to learn more about a local journalist. Both of my parents work for the DND and have their own opinions about him as well, which makes him even more interesting in my eyes.  

My thoughts on Journalism today.

Growing up, I’ve always been a fan of history. Others would often scoff and say “Who cares what happened a long time ago?” or “Why study history? It already happened, it’s not like it’s going to change!” However, I always believed the study of history to be more applicable than most people realize. In part, this is where my interest in journalism stems from. Ever since I’ve really been in interested in the news and keeping myself informed, I’ve noticed something; journalists, in general, are abysmal when it comes to history. Politics, sure, plenty of journalists keep themselves well-read on that front and are qualified to comment. The same is true with business, or law. These disciplines are respected and widely studied enough for the ignorant to remain silent while those who are truly qualified to comment do so. In the case of history, many journalists when writing any sort of argumentative piece make sweeping statements regarding history with little to no true factual basis. The hubris of many modern journalists leads them to disregard history as a respectable discipline. This is frustrating from my perspective even as an amateur in the field of history. From that perspective, I believe I have a relatively unique trait to offer to journalism as a whole. Not only could I better comment on issues relevant to history, many skills learned through the study of history are perfectly applicable in the context of journalism; notably, the desire for objectivity, thoroughness in argument and good writing skills.

In terms of the status of journalism today, I believe the industry to suffer (like many) from a burdensome emphasis on commercialism. This greed and desire for money (while completely understandable and practical; running these news corporations isn’t free) has come at the cost of objectivity and the integrity of journalism as a respected discipline. Sensationalist headlines abound searching for high ratings, or journalists have their salaries depend on furthering their employer’s biases. Pop culture journalism has overtaken investigative journalism simply by reason of it being more profitable. Overall, like in other disciplines that stride for intellectualism and objectivity (such as in academia), quality and true journalistic integrity should take priority over financial gain.