Leave It To Clint

Media team poses for a quick picture before heading out on an embed with the U.S. military

The media teams have been busy the last few weeks, doing embed after embed with the U.S. military. The correspondents, cameramen, and producers like getting out away from the villa and seeing other parts of Iraq. Embeds normally require that the military take control of the media team and move it to another part of the country, which quite often involves helicopter flights, much to the glee of the teams. The media guys simply love flying in helicopters, and all to often return to earth giddy and smiling, slinging terms around like, "chopper", “bird”, “helo”, “slick”, and “rotary-wing” like they stepped right out of a Hollywood action movie. I always caution them from using such terms on-air because they often use them out of context and it sounds awkward, and fake, like you’re trying to impress someone. Studio anchors, as an example, are forever using military jargon and it makes me cringe every time I hear it. You can’t go wrong using the proper name, don’t try to be cool and use slang. Let Clint Eastwood do that. So unless you’re aircrew, please just call it a "helicopter".