Media executives joined Marvin Kalb to discuss coverage of a possible war in Iraq at Thursday night’s Kalb Report at the National Press Club.

More than 300 people, including many GW and Harvard University students, attended the event. The Kalb Report is co-sponsored by GW, The Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard and the National Press Club.

CNN Chairman Walter Isaacson said CNN reporters would accompany troops into battle should there be a war in Iraq, and dismissed charges that journalists would be “in bed” with the military.

New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzburger said Times reporters would also be attached to military units, but would not be the only Times reporters covering the war.

“It’s not our only option,” Sulzburger said, noting that several reporters are already positioned throughout Iraq, including Baghdad.

Kalb asked Kevin Klose, president and CEO of National Public Radio, if journalists would be restricted in covering the war.

“As long as the encounter goes well, the media will have a fairly wide latitude (when reporting news about the war),” Klose said. “But the generals will want to have coverage restricted if the war goes bad, if there are miscalculations and loss of life.”

Isaacson said the media would not be restricted from covering the war, and people would be able to see the action on television.

“We won’t be kept away like we were in Afghanistan,” he said.

Kalb asked how the September 11 attacks and the events that followed affected news budgets.

Sulzburger said the Times news department had exceeded its $180 million a year budget covering the September 11 attacks, but hoped to make it up by making cuts in other areas, such as circulation and advertising.

“We don’t budget for war, horror or tragedy,” he said.

“And quality does matter,” Sulzburger added, noting that the Times’ coverage of the terrorist attacks and the war on terror has led to an increase in circulation, which has helped to offset the affects of an increase in news expenditures.

Associated Press President Louis Boccardi said AP news expenditures have increased as it continues to send more reporters to the Persian Gulf area.

“We’re going to do what needs to be done to cover the war the way it needs to be covered,” Boccardi said. “It’s a serious economic reality we all have to cope with.”

Isaacson said CNN spent $30 million to move key personnel to Iraq, and has a yearly news budget that exceeds $1.2 billion.

Klose said NPR would cover the war with its limited resources, noting that NPR is a non-profit organization.

He also emphasized the public’s demand for breaking news.

“We all feel the need to have access to breaking news, especially in the aftermath of 9/11,” Klose said. “When something happens, Americans want content immediately.”

Kalb asked Sulzburger if increased Internet usage hurt the Times financially.

“Our goal is to get the news to as many people as possible,” Sulzburger said. “In the past five years, we’ve doubled our reach.”

Sulzburger said the Times would be able to profit from its Web site through advertising and increased circulation. He said circulation has increased because many people who read the publication online also buy the paper.

Kalb, a veteran journalist and lecturer at Harvard, has hosted the Kalb Report since 1994.