Concept: "Embedded journalism" is the practice of journalists being attached to military units during armed conflicts. The question concerns when this became a defining feature of war reporting.
Explanation: While journalists have historically accompanied armies, formal, large-scale, and systematic embedding is most famously linked to a specific conflict.
Vietnam War: Journalists had significant access, but reporting was largely independent, not formally embedded. This independent reporting influenced public opinion against the war.
Persian Gulf War I (1990-91): Military restrictions on media access led to criticism. Reporting often occurred via controlled press pools and briefings.
Gulf War 2003 (Invasion of Iraq): This conflict marked a turning point for embedded journalism. The U.S. military initiated a large-scale program to embed hundreds of journalists within combat units, a response to the access limitations of the first Gulf War. The term "embedded journalism" gained widespread use during this period.
Kargil War (1999): Media coverage from the front lines occurred, but it lacked the large-scale, formalized embedding program characteristic of the 2003 Iraq invasion.
Answer: The practice of embedding journalists with the military became a turning point and a widely recognized strategy during the Gulf War 2003.