War and Media Essay -- War Television Essays

War and Media Perhaps one of the greatest impacts on the lives of the peoples of Earth is that of our own self-destruction; of wars, death, and decay. It is therefore very reasonable to suppose that at the forefront of these events would be the media, capitalizing on their ability to bring to the people, those less immediately afflicted by war, news and developments concerning the actual war, statistics, and shocking images from inside the various war zones. Though many may think that the purpose of this type of reporting is for the intellectual benefit of the viewers, some have argued that it is instead a sort of real-life â€Å"reality television show.† Tom Engelhardt wrote in an article entitled â€Å"The Gulf War As Total Television,† found in The Nation, that the Gulf War â€Å"†¦proved promising exactly because the boundaries between military action and media event broke down in such a way that military planning could become a new form of media reality.† (Engelhardt, 108) If one follows this dissertation, we seem to pick up on how the Gulf War was actually a sort of ploy by the government and the newly conglomerated media industries to boost ratings and provide high-rated entertainment as opposed to news coverage. It is known that at this point in history the broadcast industry was in very real danger of falling through, even though they had mass financial support by various companies across the US, due to the cable industry and the then newly formed Fox network. This makes a lot of sense when you look at how the broadcast networks were planning taking back the industry, by getting in with the governme nt and making the production of a lifetime. â€Å"The history of the war has always been suppressed in the national... ...p://www.bsu.edu/library/doresearch/resourceguides/terrorism.html> Cohen, Jeff. â€Å"Stenographers to Power: The Gulf War As a Case Study in Media Coverage.† Stenographers to Power. Ed. David Barsamian. Monroe ME: Common Courage Press, 1992. 139-162. Engelhardt, Tom. â€Å"The Gulf War As Total Television.† The Reference Shelf: The Media & the Public, Vol. 66, Num. 5. Ed. Casey Ripley, Jr. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1994. 108-115. Johnson, Peter. â€Å"Media, War and Scrutiny.† USA Today 17 Oct. 2001. 34 pars. 19 Nov. 2002 Kennedy, William V. The Military and the Media. Connecticut: Praeger, 1993. Neuharth, Al. â€Å"Media Mesmerize with Attack Coverage.† USA Today 13 Sept. 2001. 14 pars. 19 Nov. 2002 War and Media Essay -- War Television Essays War and Media Perhaps one of the greatest impacts on the lives of the peoples of Earth is that of our own self-destruction; of wars, death, and decay. It is therefore very reasonable to suppose that at the forefront of these events would be the media, capitalizing on their ability to bring to the people, those less immediately afflicted by war, news and developments concerning the actual war, statistics, and shocking images from inside the various war zones. Though many may think that the purpose of this type of reporting is for the intellectual benefit of the viewers, some have argued that it is instead a sort of real-life â€Å"reality television show.† Tom Engelhardt wrote in an article entitled â€Å"The Gulf War As Total Television,† found in The Nation, that the Gulf War â€Å"†¦proved promising exactly because the boundaries between military action and media event broke down in such a way that military planning could become a new form of media reality.† (Engelhardt, 108) If one follows this dissertation, we seem to pick up on how the Gulf War was actually a sort of ploy by the government and the newly conglomerated media industries to boost ratings and provide high-rated entertainment as opposed to news coverage. It is known that at this point in history the broadcast industry was in very real danger of falling through, even though they had mass financial support by various companies across the US, due to the cable industry and the then newly formed Fox network. This makes a lot of sense when you look at how the broadcast networks were planning taking back the industry, by getting in with the governme nt and making the production of a lifetime. â€Å"The history of the war has always been suppressed in the national... ...p://www.bsu.edu/library/doresearch/resourceguides/terrorism.html> Cohen, Jeff. â€Å"Stenographers to Power: The Gulf War As a Case Study in Media Coverage.† Stenographers to Power. Ed. David Barsamian. Monroe ME: Common Courage Press, 1992. 139-162. Engelhardt, Tom. â€Å"The Gulf War As Total Television.† The Reference Shelf: The Media & the Public, Vol. 66, Num. 5. Ed. Casey Ripley, Jr. New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1994. 108-115. Johnson, Peter. â€Å"Media, War and Scrutiny.† USA Today 17 Oct. 2001. 34 pars. 19 Nov. 2002 Kennedy, William V. The Military and the Media. Connecticut: Praeger, 1993. Neuharth, Al. â€Å"Media Mesmerize with Attack Coverage.† USA Today 13 Sept. 2001. 14 pars. 19 Nov. 2002