BROOKE GLADSTONE: So, it seems that, without corroboration, Mr. Jordan made damning insinuations about the US military, and without precisely knowing what he said, right-leaning bloggers made damning insinuations about Mr. Jordan. The Committee to Protect Journalists tracks documented cases of aggression against reporters in conflict zones. Maybe it knows something. Joel Campagna is CPJ's program coordinator for the Middle East. Joel, welcome to On the Media.

JOEL CAMPAGNA: Thank you very much.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: So, we do know that the Qatar-based, Arab language network Al Jazeera has issued public accusations that they were targeted by US forces in Iraq. Remind us why Al Jazeera has taken this view?

JOEL CAMPAGNA: On April 8th, 2003, which was one of the last days of combat operations in the war, a US warplane struck an electricity generator outside of Al Jazeera's Baghdad bureau, killing reporter Tariq Ayyub, who had been on the roof at the time. The incident took place in an area of very heavy fighting that day, and Al Jazeera, at the same time, points out that before the war, they had provided the Pentagon with the coordinates of their bureau. Up till this point, the US military has not conducted an investigation into the incident, so many questions remain unanswered.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now, if I remember, this isn't the first time that Al Jazeera was hit.

JOEL CAMPAGNA: That's true. Just two years prior to the incident in Baghdad, Al Jazeera's bureau in Kabul, Afghanistan had been similarly struck by US missiles, and all we know at this point as far as the Afghanistan incident was a statement from the Department of Defense saying that a, a known Al Qaeda facility had been hit, and that the Pentagon was unaware that the office had been used by Al Jazeera.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Now, one of the most widely-publicized incidents involving the US military was the 2003 bombing of the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad, during which two foreign correspondents were killed. Many, many reporters, as a matter of fact, from many news organizations, were housed in that hotel.

JOEL CAMPAGNA: Well, in the case of the Palestine Hotel, as you mentioned, we concluded through a thorough investigation that it wasn't a deliberate attack, but it could have been avoided, because commanders were aware that the Palestine Hotel had been used as a base by the foreign media which were covering events in Baghdad, yet, for some reason, that information was not passed on to troops on the ground.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: But central command did, in fact, launch an investigation of the Palestine Hotel incident, and it called the shelling "fully in accordance with the rules of engagement." This is a phrase that pops up in other investigations. What does it mean?

JOEL CAMPAGNA: To date, what the rules of engagement are remains unclear. The Pentagon keeps those classified. And in the case of the Palestine Hotel, the troops on the ground believed that they were firing at Iraqi military who were directing artillery at US troops.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: There was another more recent attack involving an Al Arabiya reporter, Mazen Tumeizi. Could you give us a brief sketch of what happened there?

JOEL CAMPAGNA: He had been covering, with a number of other journalists, a disabled US Bradley fighting vehicle, which a few hours earlier had been attacked by insurgents. And he was killed when a US helicopter opened fire on the disabled Bradley, in an apparent attempt to destroy the vehicle and prevent it from falling into the hands of insurgents. This is a case which has raised concerns for a number of journalists about whether US troops are using indiscriminate force or failing to take into account the presence of civilians when making targeting decisions.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Joel, based on your research, does it appear that US forces have ever deliberately targeted journalists in Iraq?

JOEL CAMPAGNA: There is no evidence to conclude that the US military has deliberately targeted the press in Iraq. If we look back at the overall threats to journalists in Iraq, there are many, and actually, insurgent actions account for over 60 percent of journalist deaths since March of 2003. The second leading cause of death has been the US military. At least nine journalists and two other media support workers have been killed by US forces' fire, and when journalists are killed, we've seen the military seems, at times, indifferent or unwilling to launch complete, transparent investigations or to take forceful steps to help mitigate risk so that, in the future, journalists are not killed.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Thank you very much.

JOEL CAMPAGNA: Thank you.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: Joel Campagna is the Committee to Protect Journalists program coordinator for the Middle East.

BOB GARFIELD: Coming up, Salon celebrates its tenth birthday. That's 83 in web years. And a new study shows that journalists have ethics, after all.

BROOKE GLADSTONE: This is On the Media, from NPR.