The Media and the Military

Britain's ‘Vietnam syndrome’? Public opinion and British military intervention from Palestine to Yugoslavia

“…In response to such perceived problems the military has developed media management systems in order to secure the support of public opinion. 112 The Vietnam myth is a politically useful one to political and military elites who wish to enhance their power over the conduct of a conflict by suppressing media scrutiny. Public opinion's attention can be diverted from the elite's conduct of the war and the justice of its cause by blaming or 'shooting the messenger' (the media) for bad news from the front.…”

Military‐Media interface: Changing paradigms new challenges

“…As a consequence, intellectual protest based on the citizen's freedom to choose whether to support their government's position on a conflict, in the absence of any threat to national survival, is denigrated as being unpatriotic and ideologically based. 15 Government's attempt to cash in on the lack of community awareness of the right, and the need to judge a conflict on its merits if often aided to a large extent by the media which tends to reflect prevailing opinion. Even if the media were to adopt a more objective line, the early polls in any limited conflict tend to overwhelmingly favour the government and military.…”

“…2 Yet the media have been slow to rise to the challenge, limited as they are by the need to compete, the cost of coverage, lack of specialist expertise and audience expectations. 3 Analysis of media coverage of the Falklands, Grenada, Panama and the Gulf shows that some elements of the media were too willing to be swept along with the tide of enthusiasm and to act as cheer leaders for their "own forces. The only saving grace for the media, and for the public's right to know, is the lesson of Vietnam.…”

“…The experience of the post-war years suggests that the nature of war has changed. 1 The potential for mutually assured destruction in nuclear, biological and chemical warfare, has made the major national confrontations of the past too costly. In the future, the major international and regional powers will pursue their ambitions through limited conflicts.…”

Unholy Wars: Media Representations of the First Bali Bombings and Their Aftermath

“…The reporting was not neutral: it informed and supported a highly positioned political polemic, one that was being forged through the United States-led 'war on terror' and an imminent attack on Iraq. 1 theorising the media and political violence It has been broadly observed that the waging of a 'successful' military campaign by a modern democratic state is only possible where a significant consensus is forged between the government, the media and the citizenry (Young and Jesser, 1997;Carruthers, 2000;Lewis, 2003). Even those authors who would problematise a notion of 'success' that is not located within a broader ethical or ideological conception of justice or the 'just war' have observed that persuasion and propaganda strategies are central to government social management strategies, most especially for securing public support for policy and military objectives (Herman and Chomsky, 1999;Chomsky, 2001Chomsky, , 2003aChomsky, , 2003bWaldman, 2004).…”