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Days After Obama Admin Asked Networks to Not Show 'Inaccurate' B-Roll of its Advances, Islamic State Seized Two Cities

May 29, 2015

Merely days after reports of the Obama administration asking networks to stop airing "inaccurate" B-roll of the Islamic State because it portrayed them advancing in Iraq and Syria, the terrorist group took down the cities of Ramadi in Iraq and Palmyra in Syria.

Islamic State took the occasion to film more propaganda footage of itself marching through the empty cities, with horrific images of its enemies' corpses and destroyed buildings in its wake.

The Fox News talk show OutNumbered discussed Politico's report on the U.S. government's efforts to quash what it deemed misleading footage May 15, and three days later, the fall of Ramadi, capital of the Anbar Province, was one of the lead stories on every network broadcast.

Politico reported May 13:

Senior State Department and Pentagon officials have begun contacting television network reporters to ask them to stop using "B-roll" — stock footage that appears on screen while reporters and commentators talk — showing ISIL at the peak of its strength last summer.

"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," said Emily Horne, spokeswoman for retired Gen. John Allen, the State Department’s special envoy leading the international coalition against ISIL.

"It’s inaccurate — that’s no longer how ISIL moves," Horne said. "A lot of that footage is from last summer before we began tactical strikes."

Published under: Islamic State