International Conflict and the Media
ACTIVITY 7: Summing Up, The Press in Wartime
Introduction
This activity pulls together the previous six activities and helps solidify the major objectives of this
unit.
Student Objectives
- To understand the differing relationships among the media and the military during wartime.
- To understand the different functions of the press and electronic media during wartime.
- To examine the role of technology in the relationship between the press and the military.
Time
1 class period
Materials
Poster paper and markers
Recommended Procedures
- Divide the class into groups of six or seven students and give each group a poster sheet and a
marker.
- Ask the students to list the technological advances that effected reporting during the previously
mentioned conflicts. Students should note such changes as telegraph, improved transportation
systems (railroads, steamships, airplanes), inventions (radio, television, film). Ask the students
to note briefly how these changes might have influenced the relationship between the reporters
and the military during wartime.
- Ask each group to report upon their conclusions. The students should understand that
improved transportation and communications technologies have raised the question of the
protection of military operations which often depend upon surprise. New communication
inventions greatly decreased the amount of time between the event on a battlefield and the
presentation of an account in a newspaper or in electronic media. Electronic media, particularly
television, can have a powerful influence upon public opinion during the conflict.
- Ask the students how these changes influence the concept of a free press. Ask them to
consider what these changes suggest for democracy in the United States.
Return to the Contents page for International Conflict and the Media.
Go to Activity 8.
Go to the Bibliography.