Activity 24, Implications for the Future
Vietnam may have been the first television war, but Gulf war was America's first "real time" television war. We were able to see events as they really happened, not as recorded for later presentation. Perspective and analysis were left to the news magazines and newspapers. Instant history is simultaneous, global, mass, brief and intensive bursts; images of Vietnam were prepackaged--days old. Crises unfold before our eyes too fast for thoughtful consideration, examination alternatives, or projection of long range consequences. The conditioned reflex created by the television war are potentially dangerous.
In the Gulf War the media became a strategic tool and a weapon in the military's arsenal: how do you preserve freedom of the press as well as national security in times of war? The dilemma is how to preserve freedom of the press and maintain national security in times of war. The press was caught in a balancing act between providing adequate information for informed citizenry and the security of national interests. Can a nation engaged in combat risk openness and access of the media to any military operation? To control content is to control public perceptions and attitudes. Thus the press does more than inform; it also creates the reality toward which we act. Television images are critical in the formation of American attitudes and subsequent political actions.
Television journalists must be entertaining and highly visual. Stories are trimmed to support film and visual elements; television is afraid of being dull. Because of the media, one is obligated to write to the pictures, sound bites and rapid-fire visuals rather than in-depth coverage. Emotional responses are the ones the public remembers and help define future reactions, with little perspective and analysis; pictures tell the story. The entire coverage of the war was a race for ratings, personalities and scoops, rather than for citizen information, analysis and understanding.
In addition, television was sensitive to public opinion. Journalists' questions were hostile and were skeptical of government projections of casualties, but as it became clear that the public supported the war effort, the coverage shifted to a kind of national celebration. Viewers of television were more supportive of the war, but less likely to be well informed of its history, causes, or consequences. Television offered a great deal of speculation and interpretation as opposed to documentation and in-depth background. News coverage favored flashy technology while ignoring the dehumanization of a stereotyped enemy. We saw smart-bombs, stealth airplanes, confident troops, we never saw Iraqi dead. The war appeared sanitary (surgical) safe, and not terribly costly in personnel or material. As the military supplied the news that came out of the gulf through videotapes and briefings, the military used the press to promulgate its own policies and spread disinformation. In some cases the military released so much trivial information that the press could not keep up. This disoriented the public and defused opposition.
The American public has the right to know and judge about the political and military wisdom. The military will impose strict ground rules on press activities. Short wars depend upon surprise, a tactical advantage that the military is unlikely to risk even with selected reporters. The press will continue to learn of military initiatives after they have begun. The advantage the military has recedes as time passes. Distance is increasingly irrelevant to news gatherers, who will find it easier in the future to establish phone, fax and video links when they are reporting from remote areas.
In 1991 CNN had access to 55 million U.S. homes and 10 million outside of U.S. in 105 countries. The internationalization of the news business--typified in television by CNN's acceptance in foreign capitals, and its use of reports by foreign journalists--represents the progressive irrelevance of national boundaries in the flow of information. Saddam Hussein watched the war on CNN. Iraqi officials delayed press conferences until CNN reporters arrived. CNN enjoyed special treatment and access to Iraqi officials, events and city locations. Peter Arnett became the world's window on Iraq.
Student Questions
Should the media use modern telecommunications in the next war?
If satellite telephones are permitted during the next war, what might be the result?
Return to Activity 24.
Go to the Contents page for International Conflict and the Media.
Go to the Bibliography.