Activity 24, Implications for the Future
The Gulf War firmly established television as an important actor in international politics. With the emergence of live global broadcasts, television operates in international politics on several levels: 1) it opens the door to private organizations, such as Amnesty International and ethnic interest groups to influence foreign policy; 2) it speeds up decision making, reducing time for both analysis and delay in policy making; 3) it dilutes the secrecy in diplomacy by giving every party in a specific set of talks a way to instantaneously communicate their version of the other side's offers; 4) it sometimes introduces and popularizes multinational issues into a largely bilateral foreign policy agenda.
Most importantly, television is a tool routinely used by foreign ministries to develop and implement their policies, a use uncharacteristically visible during the Gulf Crisis. In doing so they can often level a diplomatic playing field because television is a tool that can be employed as well by a poor country with skill and cunning as by a rich one with technology and power.
But television is not neutral--it has its own agendas. During the Gulf War and other crises, television anchors assumed the mantle of quasi-diplomats, a practice which became embarrassingly obvious when Nightline anchor Ted Koppel used "we" several times to refer to the U.S. government. Television discussion shows on CNN, the American broadcast networks, and on many European national news programs took television's quasi-diplomatic role for granted and debated its implications without questioning its existence.
A diplomatic status of any kind assumes a position or an alignment, an uncomfortable place for American news organizations that pride themselves on "balance" and "objectivity." Balance and objectivity went out the window quickly as American television organizations sensed opportunities inherent in "supporting our men and women in the desert" and the dangers in looking too closely at the lack of rationale for a popular war promoted by a popular President. The result was a clear diplomatic alignment within the American and global media.
Adapted from Patrick O'Heffernan, "Sobering Thoughts on Sound Bites Seen 'Round the World," in Bradley S. Greenberg and Walter Gantz, eds. Desert Storm and the Mass Media. Cresskill, New Jersey: Hampton Press, Inc., 1993, pp 19-22.
Included with permission from Hampton Press, 23 Broadway, Cresskill, NJ 07626
Student Questions
How is television a "diplomatic" actor?
Can news organizations be balanced or objective during wartime?
Was television's role in the Gulf War different from the media's role in past wars?
Return to Activity 24.
Go to the Contents page for International Conflict and the Media.
Go to the Bibliography.