[Guest post by DRJ]

The international media stayed mum for seven months when New York Times‘ reporter David Rohde was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Executive Editor Bill Keller convinced media around the globe not to publish information about Rohde’s capture:

“Keller said he had a responsibility for his employees. Based on advice from security experts and others, including Rohde’s family, the newspaper kept the abduction quiet. “The more you talk about who did what … the more you’re writing a playbook for the next kidnapping,” Keller told CNN.”

Like the New York Times, the Department of Defense wanted to protect one of its own, Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl (23, of Ketchum, Idaho), who was captured by the Taliban on or about June 30. Apparently it took the BBC just two days to release the news of his capture:

“The military first made Bergdahl’s capture public on July 2, though he was believed captured on June 30. A Department of Defense official told ABC News on Friday that if it hadn’t been for the BBC reporting on the missing soldier on July 2, the military would have kept the capture quiet. The goal, he said, was to minimize the amount of information that might get back to his captors that might influence the military’s search and recovery.”

It’s not clear if other media sources declined to cover Bergdahl’s capture before the BBC broke the story or if the BBC was simply the first to find out about it, but it looks like a media double standard.

— DRJ