Media war

Former director-general of the BBC, John Tusa, once said that journalists must constantly guard against becoming outriders of political auth...

Former director-general of the BBC, John Tusa, once said that journalists must constantly guard against becoming outriders of political authority. As the world prepares for the US invasion of Iraq, the role of the media is being hotly debated in a variety of websites and newspapers with the US media being roundly criticised for becoming 8220;a mouthpiece of the Pentagon and the White House8221;. The fact that Nightline8217;s Ted Koppel recently said that it was the duty of newsmen not to reveal facts until ordered to do so by the military, the fact that the television network ABC recently admitted that it knew of the killing of five Al-Qaeda suspects in Yemen but waited for four days before it received a clearance from the Pentagon to broadcast the news, the fact that the massive anti-war protests of February 15 in cities across the globe did not receive the sort of treatment they deserved, have all been used to build the case that after September 11 the US mainstream media is seen to directly serve what is termed American 8220;national interest8221;.

Yet there is raging debate on war in the European press, particularly in the British media, with columnists accusing Rupert Murdoch8217;s publications of echoing the proprietor8217;s pro-war bias, and papers from the Murdoch stables, by contrast, calling the Continentals an 8220;axis of weasels8221;. A British correspondent has written that the current media scenario is identical to that of the Gulf War of 1991, when Yankee newsmen anxious for journalistic immortality bitterly fought for places in the 8220;war pool8221; and arrived in the desert trying to look like General Montgomery. The transatlantic divide on the war is clearly mirrored by a transatlantic divide in the media.

If the Gulf War of 1991 was the world8217;s first television war, the Kosovo conflict was the world8217;s first internet war, the second Gulf War 8212; as the expected Iraq invasion is being termed 8212; will be a war fought before an intensely competitive media. Present day competition for news might make war reportage more professional but it may also spur the race for competitive sensationalism. So while journalists are offered ringside seats in Baghdad by President Bush and their reports are scrutinised by the Pentagon, the White House may find that propaganda may not be as easy as it thinks it is, simply because of the dizzying plethora of media houses and fierce competition for mindspace and viewership.