The Current State of My Research

During the course of our research week in the library, I devised an organizational method that suits my topic and will keep me focused while writing my research paper. I really enjoyed how note cards could be numbered and structured so that major themes were presented in an easy way based on the different sources. Therefore, I decided to use this procedure but also color code the note cards based on articles, books and media sources, such as documentaries and online interviews. From the beginning, my research topic was headed in a good direction: I knew what I wanted to do and where to look; however, it was much harder to narrow it down to the main questions I wanted to answer, only because there were so many questions to begin with. My rough outline looks a bit like this:
-Background of the Iraq War ("War On Terror") using a book dedicated to the war and how the involvement of the United States
-Pros and cons of embedded journalists, unprecedented access but at the same time, limited mobility on battlefield and threat of media censorship, using an article that details these two factors
-A discussion of war journalism in general, how embedded journalists have evolved over the years, using a short, Youtube documentary
-Narrow down to embedded journalists in particular in Iraq and Afghanistan, using various articles from journalists who have returned or are currently blogging about their stay
-Preparation for becoming embedded, a variety of steps and protocols that must be taken before a journalist leaves, using articles that describe the lengthy process in preparing journalists for the mental strain of war and adapting to the circumstances
-Examples of embedded journalists using articles and books
-Psychological glance: impact on journalists and motivation for going in the first place, what being embedded in the war does to them both mentally and physically, using articles from embedded journalists
-What sets the Iraq War apart from other media coverage involved in other wars
And the questions I am planning on answer include:

• Why do journalist make the conscious choice to become embedded, knowing full well the dangers involved? What is their motivation?
• What does being embedded do to journalists both mentally and physically?
• How does war journalism distort the news?

Now that I have this basic outline, I can start to use the resources I have and take notes, adding to the note cards if need be and rearranging my outline as I see fit. I am first reading and annotating the articles before I tackle the books and I plan to take a trip to my own library and the UWM library to search for any other resources.