So Far, Coverage Hasn't Strained Pentagon's New Media Strategy; Embedded Reporters.(A)

Byline: DOUG TSURUOKA

Can the Pentagon keep its new media-friendly thing going?

Twelve years after taking heavy flak for curbing combat coverage in the Gulf War, the military has done an about-face. It's placed about 600 print and broadcast reporters with military units at or near the front lines. There, they often provide real-time TV, radio and Web site reports.

So far, media outlets report no cases of Pentagon censorship. And some press critics say, if anything, the media tread too lightly.

A number of analysts say some censorship might be inevitable due to morale or security factors. They say the possibility of censorship rises as the war gets tougher or drags on.

"The Pentagon may pull the plug if the fighting goes badly around Baghdad," said J. Tuyet Nguyen, a Vietnam War correspondent for United Press International. The military might well have more specific …