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War and the Media
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War and the Media
Reporting Conflict 24/7

First Edition
Edited by:
  • Daya Kishan Thussu - Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, University of Westminster, UK, Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Co-Director, India Media Centre, University of Westminster, London, UK
  • Des Freedman - Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

June 2003 | 266 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd
`No book is more timely than this collection, which analyses brilliantly the Western media's relentless absorption into the designs of dominant, rapacious power' - John Pilger

`A most timely book, with many valuable insights' - Martin Bell O.B.E

`It has long been known that the outcome of war is deeply influenced by the battle to win 'hearts and minds'. This book provides a stimulating set of perspectives which combine the analyses of prominent academics with the experiences of leading journalists' -

Professor Tom Woodhouse, University of Bradford

`This volume represents an all-star cast of authors who have a tremendous amount of knowledge about media and world conflict. One of its strengths is that it doesn't focus entirely narrowly on media, but puts the discussion of media issues in the context of changes in the world order in military doctrine' -

Professor Daniel C. Hallin, University of California

`This book comes just in time. A coherent and wide-ranging collection of data, analyses and insights that help our understanding of the complex interaction between communication and conflict. A major intellectual contribution to critical thinking about the early 21st century' - Cees J Hamelink, Professor International Communication, University of Amsterdam

With what new tools do governments manage the news in order to prepare us for conflict?

Are the media responsible for turning conflict into infotainment?

Is reporting gender specific?

How do journalists view their role in covering distant wars?

This book critically examines the changing contours of media coverage of war and considers the complexity of the relationship between mass media and governments in wartime.

Assessing how far the political, cultural and professional contexts of media coverage have been affected by 9/11 and its aftermath, the volume also explores media representations of the `War on Terrorism' from regional and international perspectives, including new actors such as the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera - the pan-Arabic television network.

One key theme of the book is how new information and communication technologies are influencing the production, distribution and reception of media messages. In an age of instant global communication and round-the-clock news, powerful governments have refined their public relations machinery, particularly in the way warfare is covered on television, to market their version of events effectively to their domestic as well as international viewing public.

Transnational in its intellectual scope and in perspectives, War and the Media includes essays from internationally known academics along with contributions from media professionals working for leading broadcasters such as BBC World and CNN.


Daya Kishan Thussu and Des Freedman
Introduction
 
PART ONE: COMMUNICATING CONFLICT IN A GLOBAL WORLD
Aijaz Ahmad
Contextualizing Conflict
The US `War on Terrorism'

 
Ted Magder
Watching What we Say
Global Communication in a Time of Fear

 
Jean Seaton
Understanding not Empathy
 
PART TWO: NEW DIMENSIONS OF MANAGING CONFLICT
Frank Webster
Information Warfare in an Age of Globalization
John Downey and Graham Murdock
The Counter-Revolution in Military Affairs
The Globalization of Guerilla Warfare

 
Robin Brown
Spinning the War
Political Communications, Information Operations and Public Diplomacy in the War on Terrorism

 
Philip Taylor
`We Know Where You Are'
Psychological Operations Media During /f003Enduring Freedom

 
 
PART THREE: REPORTING CONFLICT IN AN ERA OF 24//7 NEWS
Daya Kishan Thussu
Live TV and Bloodless Deaths
War, Infotainment and 24//7 News

 
Greg Philo, Alison Gilmour, Susanna Rust, Etta Gaskell and Lucy West
Israel//Palestinian Conflict
TV News and Public Understanding

 
Noureddine Miladi
Mapping the /f003Al-Jazeera/f001 Phenomenon
 
PART FOUR: REPRESENTATIONS OF CONFLICT - 9//11 AND BEYOND
Jonathan Burston
War and the Entertainment Industries
New Research Priorities in an Era of Cyber-Patriotism

 
Bruce A Williams
The New Media Environment, Internet Chatrooms and Public Discourse After 9//11
Cynthia Weber
The Media, `War on Terrorism', and the Circulation of Non-Knowledge
Jayne Rodgers
Icons and Invisibility
Gender, Myth, 9//11

 
 
PART FIVE: CONFLICT AND THE CULTURES OF JOURNALISM
Howard Tumber and Marina Prentoulis
Journalists under Fire
Subcultures, Objectivity and Emotional Literacy

 
Nik Gowing
Journalists and War
The Troubling New Tensions Post 9//11

 
Kieran Baker
Conflict and Control-Afghanistan and the 24-hour News Cycle
Yvonne Ridley
In the Fog of War...
Gordon Corera
Need for Context
The Complexity of Foreign Reporting

 

"No book is more timely than this collection, which analyses brilliantly the Western media's relentless absorption into the designs of dominant, rapacious power"

- John Pilger

"A most timely book, with many valuable insights"

- Martin Bell O.B.E

"It has long been known that the outcome of war is deeply influenced by the battle to win 'hearts and minds'. This book provides a stimulating set of perspectives which combine the analyses of prominent academics with the experiences of leading journalists"

- Professor Tom Woodhouse, University of Bradford

"This volume represents an all-star cast of authors who have a tremendous amount of knowledge about media and world conflict. One of its strengths is that it doesn't focus entirely narrowly on media, but puts the discussion of media issues in the context of changes in the world order in military doctrine"

- Professor Daniel C. Hallin, University of California

"This book comes just in time. A coherent and wide-ranging collection of data, analyses and insights that help our understanding of the complex interaction between communication and conflict. A major intellectual contribution to critical thinking about the early 21st century"

- Cees J. Hamelink, Professor International Communication, University of Amsterdam


"The editors provide helpful context in an introduction. . . . There are insightful discussions about the historical and contemporary relationships between the media and the military, as well as the journalist's changing role in society and the changing definitions of war, conflict, and terrorism."

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