Senior Obama administration officials are contacting television news networks to ask them to stop using old footage of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria because it inaccurately depicts the terror group's strength.
"We are urging broadcasters to avoid using the familiar B-roll that we've all seen before, file footage of ISIL convoys operating in broad daylight, moving in large formations with guns out, looking to wreak havoc," Emily Horne, spokeswoman for retired Gen. John Allen, the State Department's special envoy for the international coalition against the Islamic State (also known as ISIS and ISIL), told Politico.
The referenced stock "B-roll" footage is often played during news broadcasts and shows how the terror group operated before the U.S. began conducting air strikes last August. Since then, the U.S.-led coalition has hit ISIS with thousands of bombs, forcing the fighters to change the way they move around Iraq and Syria.
"It's inaccurate - that's no longer how ISIL moves," Horne told Politico. "A lot of that footage is from last summer, before we began tactical strikes."
Officials said that the group can no longer travel in large formations during daylight, as they would be easily spotted and attacked by coalition fighter jets.
Col. Steven Warren, a Pentagon spokesman, told Politico that a more accurate version would show "one Toyota speeding down the road by itself at night with its headlights off."
Not only are the B-roll videos inaccurate, according to officials, but some of the footage comes directly from propaganda clips made by ISIS, who have learned to play the needs of television "like a fiddle," Warren said.
Horne acknowledged that the request to update the footage is partially an attempt to counter ISIS propaganda.
"When that file footage gets out there it actually risks bolstering their image, and can contribute to foreign fighter recruitment and supporting the myth of their invincibility," she told Politico.
"It's long been understood in TV that B-roll can be very problematic because we don't freshen it up enough, we rely on the same B-roll over and over again and in complex stories," said Kelly McBride, vice president for academic programs and resident ethicist of The Poynter Institute.
"B-roll can often become a cliche or a trite reference that doesn't convey the most accurate version of the contemporary truth," McBride added.
But it's a challenge for television networks to find footage that's both accurate and captivating, being that reporters often have to risk their lives to obtain objective video of ongoing conflicts.
McBride warned that American media has to be cognizant of the possibility that the requests are an attempt by the Obama administration to push its own propaganda.
"The best way to look at that request, is the Obama administration just wants the American public to be articulately informed about [ISIL]. The worst possible scenario is the Obama administration wants to manipulate the information the American public receives about [ISIL]. I don't know how you know the answer to the question," McBride said.
It's an interesting point, especially considering that Horne suggested using alternate footage of U.S. troops training Iraqi security forces and video strikes against ISIL targets.
Horne insisted, though, that the government's main goal is accuracy. "We're here to help you get it right," she told Politico. "What we're pointing out is something that we think is inaccurate."
