Embedded journalism refers to news reporters being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts.

David R. Ignatius (May 26, 1950), is an Armenian American war hawk (A war hawk, or simply hawk for short, is a term used in politics for someone favoring war in a debate over whether to go to war, or whether to continue or escalate an existing war.), journalist and novelist.

He is an associate editor and columnist ( A columnist is someone who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs.) for The Washington Post. He also co-hosts PostGlobal, an online discussion of international issues at Washingtonpost.com, with Newsweek 's Fareed Zakaria. He has written eight novels, including Body of Lies, which director Ridley Scott adapted into a film.

He is Senior Fellow to the Future of Diplomacy Program. He has received numerous honors, including the Legion of Honor from the French Republic and a lifetime achievement award from the International Committee for Foreign Journalism.

From Wikipedia.

The man in the picture must be a journalist or a press reporter / photographer.

He is apparently taking a photo of soldiers in arms.

Such a journalist goes to countries at war to report on what goes on the battlefields.

Maybe he is attached to a regiment and lives withthe soldiers to report on their mission.

Positive aspects: he leads an exciting life, he is where the action is, he is the witness ofhistorical events, he travels a lot and can visit a lot of countries.

Negative aspects: he is abroad all the time, he can’t stay home with his family, his life isuncomfortable, he spends his life travelling.

It is a dangerous job: he may be injured, he may even be killed if there is a terrorist attack ora bombing, he may be kidnapped and taken hostage.

David went to Iraq and Afghanistan to cover the wars there and travel with the US military.

He talked to American soldiers and officers.

Embedded journalism consists in journalists travelling with military units to cover wars.

David feels his job is great even if he can observe the war only from one side, from the American side.

Thanks to this type of journalism he can go to places he could not go to otherwise and seethings he would not see if he did not travel with the army.

The reports are less objective.

Social networks and the Web have modified what people expect from the media.

In the past a good journalist had to report for everyone and had to be as objective as possible when he reported on an event.

People expect the media to make them feel connected, see things as if they were on the spot.

Journalists can have access to lots of sources but there are distortions (because the sources are biased).

Journalists are less objective.

The traditional media have to adapt if they want to survive.

Dans cet entretien, David Ignatius présente les avantages et – surtout – les inconvénients d’êtreun journaliste embarqué.

Il reconnaît que cela permet de voir ce que l’on ne pourrait pas voir autrement mais que l’information est moins objective car l’observation n’est faite que d’un côté.

Il explique que cela importe peu aujourd’hui car, à cause des réseaux sociaux, le public préfère la proximité avec une communauté plutôt que l’impartialité.