In July, the National Capital Area Political Science Association (NCAPSA), along with John Hopkins University, hosted the “Press Goes to War” panel discussion featuring prominent journalists from the Washington, D.C. area. The discussants consisted of John Makely, a photojournalist for the Baltimore Sun who spent two months with U.S. troops while covering the war in Iraq; Ron Nessen, former press secretary to President Ford and current journalist-inresidence for the Brookings Institution; Richard Reeves, recipient of the 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists; and Tom Rosenstiel, founder and director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism which seeks to raise standards of American journalism. Robert Shogan, former national political correspondent at the Los Angeles Times' Washington Bureau, served as moderator for the discussion. Ben Ginsberg, president of NCAPSA was also in attendance.

Held in the small classroom on the John Hopkins University campus, the event engaged a group of professors and a cadre of reporters from the United States and abroad, as well as students interested in politics, war, and government/media relations.

A retrospective approach to U.S. involvement in similar wars was among the topics discussed. Panelists compared the war in Iraq to the Vietnam War, such comparison led to a panel discussion on themes of embedded reporting, the use of the meta narrative, and the impacts of technology in war-time reporting. Several themes emerged regarding embedded reporting from the dialogue. First, embedded reporting is dangerous not only for the reporters surrounded by warfare, but also because it can lead to inaccurate reporting, as journalists do not always take the time to analyze the historical context of the situation or the other events of the day. Second, using the meta narrative approach allows reporters to focus on a narrow view of war, but not the bigger picture of warfare. Finally the development of technology has changed the way reporters and the public view war. Updates of war have been transferred from radio to television reports, from a 24-hour news source as opposed to one evening report. The event provided insightful and colorful dialogue about journalists going to war, literally.