Michael Yon and embedded journalism

I've been looking at the end of Michael Yon's embed with the British Army in Afghanistan including the views of Michael himself and the Ministry of Defence. It's a two-parter over at the Frontline Club - Part One and Part Two.

Abusing (and using) the blog

Sorry folks, I'm abusing my blog for research purposes by embedding the video below. It's an example of a military blog making the news, so I wanted to make sure I didn't lose track of it.

It's about Col Sgt Michael Saunders (2 Mercian) who has been blogging while on deployment in Afghanistan. I wrote a piece which included a reference to his blog for the Frontline last week. I missed the fact that his pub/blog posts had made the news back in April because I was preparing for a conference.

The great thing about blogging is that when you post stuff up people get in touch with you, and I was really pleased to get an email from Mike's brother, Tracey Tyrls, who features in video. I've been following that up this morning.

(Beats working on interview transcribing. Yesterday I finally wrapped up several days work on one that came to 18,908 words. I am left wondering how the people at Hansard transcribe sessions of parliament and remain sane).

British soldier killed in Afghanistan

A soldier serving with 2nd Battalion, The Yorkshire Regiment died on Sunday while on a foot patrol near Kajaki in Helmand province. The Ministry of Defence press release is here.