Media Impact on War

Media Impact on War Vivienne Owusu-Ansah MEDIA TRANSFORMATION Can media help win – or lose – a war? Answer through detailed discussion of coverage in one war since 1945 – The Gulf War II. In 2003, America and its allies, U.K., Australia and Poland, well known as the coalition forces invaded Iraq and began a conflict which has come to be known as the Gulf war II or Iraq war and were later joined by several other countries. During the Iraq war, the Allied forces permitted the media to travel with them in their tanks and jets to war fields to cover the war so as to get first hand news to the public. Though the media has been involved in covering previous conflicts, the Iraq war was said to be the war which allowed the media to have extensive coverage and brought first hand news to the public. This allowed the Allied forces to control and manage the information that went out in public Frankly, our job is to win the war. Part of that is information warfare. So we are going to attempt to dominate the information environment. Embedding journalists honorably served that end, said Long[1]† (Kahn, 2004). Some journalists argue that the army used the journalists as a propaganda tool. This can be deemed as true because journalists’ reports were always favourable to the coalition forces. Reporting alongside the soldiers in war made the journalists feel a sense of closeness to troops. Moreover, the soldiers were the very people who were protecting the journalists’ whiles at the war front thus it became difficult if not impossible to report any negative issues about them. Another point to consider is that, because the media was reporting from the war front alongside the troops, they were able to send real time reports indirectly to Saddam Hussein’s government about the heavy artillery being used by the Allied forces. This psychologically weakened Iraq as they realised they could not match the ammunition strength of the coalition forces. Pictures of the military tanks rolling into Iraq were also another factor that helped propagate the Allied forces’ aim. This showed the might of the forces which intimidated the Iraqi forces as well as the Iraqi public. A comment purported to have been made by Chris Hughes, the spokesperson of the U.S. Marines a day before the war highlights this, â€Å"The à ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ rst image of this war will deà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ne the conà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ict† (Buncombe 2003 cited in Parry 2010). If the public had initially supported the Iraqi government the pictures of the Allied forces were enough to sway public suppo rt to the powerful side in this case the Allied forces. According to Professor Barbie Zelizer of University of Southern California’s Annenberg school of communication, a picture showing a crowd of Iraqis pulling down Saddam Hussein’s statue was quite influential, this is because it told a story to the public that the government of Saddam Hussein was no longer in power and that the public supported the Allied forces and this was an effective means to winning or losing the war. It showed the crowd as being nationalists thereby triggering the general public to act as nationalists too. During the Iraq war, the army is believed to have had around 600 journalists from various news organisations entrenched with the troops thus there was an overflow of news and all were in favour of the Allied forces. This therefore created a high level of fear amongst the enemies having to always read and listen to the might of the forces on TV, radio and in newspapers. Some journalists argue that the Allied forces had won the war even before any ammunitions were fired and this is because the public had already been scared into fleeing due to the fact that they were made to believe they could be killed by nuclear or chemical weapons, which in effect made it less difficult for the Allied forces to win the war. In the case of the Iraq war, the Allied forces controlled their agenda, creating awareness and used the media to portray a one sided view. Most of the pictures that were circulated were of those showing the might of the forces and in some cases a few Iraqi nationals showing their support to the Allied forces and kept any image of casualties suffered by the Allied forces out of the public eye especially in their respective countries because they wanted the public to continue supporting the war till the end. This adds momentum to the political idea of using photography during war to manipulate the public. Journalism is arguably a powerful tool often used in affecting and changing public opinion on issues. Media institutions usually broadcast what attracts their target audience. Prior to invading Iraq, George Bush – the American President, in a national broadcast which was telecast in Iraq, heard him appealing to the ordinary citizens of Iraq to support America and the coalition forces for their own good and also portrayed the Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein, as an enemy and the cause of all the problems of the Iraqis. He further suggested that the solution to their problem is war to overthrow what the western governments termed as undemocratic regime of Saddam Hussein and urged them to fight for their freedom. His speech was rhetoric and played very well on the public’s emotion as they did not support the Iraq government to fight when they were called to join. Bush used his message to amass public opinion in acknowledging America and its Allied’s military presence in Iraq. According to Samir Khader of Al Jazeera (the most prominent media institution during the invasion), the aim of their station during the war was to educate the world most especially the Arab viewers and to prove to them that in every war there are always civilian casualties. This did not seem to work well initially as their network was not far reached, they were also deemed not to be reliable and as such was a mere propaganda tool used by the Iraqi government and enemy groups who attacked America on September 11. The public in America, United Kingdom and other parts of the world had been persuaded into believing these perceptions by the media though there was no proof. The Arab media did not do much to help its credibility by not reporting human rights abuses against sectarian and ethnic minorities and opposition Iraqi citizens which were perpetuated on a large scale by Saddam Hussein’s government. Although Al Jazeera’s message about war casualties is true, it is worth m entioning that, this is not something new as that is some of the realities of war. There has never been any war fought without any civilian or military casualty and Jack Straw, Britain’s Foreign Secretary during the period of the Iraq war rightly described war in an article in Mail Online as an occurrence that is filled with horror. As pictures and news of war casualties (both civilians and American soldiers) got to the American public their views began to change. The public became angry and began demonstrating against the mission of the government in going to war in Iraq and demanded that troops are withdrawn. This message reflected during some of American president’s foreign visits. In the U.K., President Bush was met by anti war demonstrations in London because of the Iraq war and other cities where he visited also met him with similar demonstrations. During the Iraq war some western media used spin to get specific messages to the international world. An example is a picture showing a crowd chanting and singing which the western media portrayed as Iraqis celebrating Bush but they were rather protesting America’s involvement in the war with chants in Arabic that the troops should be withdrawn from Iraq. A journalist who was reporting for BBC interpreted the story to portray the crowd as singing praises to Bush for getting rid of Saddam Hussein and celebrating their freedom. This helped sway public opinion about the war in the western world. Before the coalition forces marched into any city in Iraq, they used the media to report extensively on how the cities had already been conquered and this plan built fear in the opposing army who showed little resistance, all these stories were however later found to be false but that was after it had served its intended purpose. Most of the coverage by the western media such as CNN and NSBC was deemed as biased to favour the allied forces. This is partly because only a few of the journalists embedded with the troops did get to experience action at the front line. Most of them were stationed at the command centre where information was always received from the military and this played an important role in helping them win the support of the public. The Arab media on the other hand did same, they also used propaganda in getting the Arab world to see the Allied forces as the worst enemy who had no right to be in Iraq with no intention of protecting civilians and alleging the coalition forces rather had their personal interest of getting control of the oil in Iraq. They propagated Arab nationalism to the public. The Allied forces knew the important role played by independent media during war. The public usually believe stories reported by independent journalists at war front as being unbiased. This is not wholly true as they always report from an angle that suits their organisation. The coalition forces used the media to their advantage rather than having the military releasing information to the press which would be seen as biased towards the aim of their mission in Iraq by the general public and not being credible as well. Local media in America had journalists attached to the troops, and most of these media are situated near military bases. The local people who are the main readers in these areas, connected with the media in the neighbourhood during the war through the news items they published, some were messages from the soldiers to their families. The public regarded the news from these newspapers as credible thereby getting them to support the mission of the Allied forces. Studies have shown how media coverage affected public opinion during the war and led to the public supporting the military mainly due to the reason that the public were not made aware of any other options other than going to war to liberate the people of Iraq and the enemy of the coalition forces (the government of Saddam Hussein) coming from the back drop of the September 11, 2001 attacks in America which had attracted massive media coverage thereby the public especially the American public viewed military action in Iraq as the only way. This point is echoed by Berinsky, 2008, â€Å"However, as threats recede, citizens begin to resist encroachments on their basic values. Thus, while the particular circumstances of war may be unique, they influence civil liberties judgements through mechanisms that are familiar from studies of domestic politics† (pg.13). Britain and the other countries that formed the coalition also viewed Iraq as a danger to global peace. Iraq had been portra yed by the coalition forces as a country that had allegedly supported and accommodated the group that attacked America. Another factor worth highlighting is that war casualties were not permitted to be made public by the media and this was strictly enforced by the military at the command centre, any journalist that violated this rule was expelled from the base. In the weeks prior to the invasion of Iraq, the American government saturated the media, especially prime time news programs of major media stations and newspapers in America such as; CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, CBS and New York Times alleging that Iraq was planning to commit atrocities even greater than the September 11 attacks. The American public believed and therefore backed the government’s decision to go to war in Iraq. This situation was no different in U.K. where BBC, Sky and ITN were also used by the then government of Tony Blair to get the public to support the mission. The media which has a duty to present the public with the truth also failed to question these facts presented by the American and British governments but rather circulated the government’s information to the public as being the truth. The media effectively helped the coalition forces by influencing public support and also urged the military to go on to win the war in Iraq. Although certain reports disagree with the fact that the coalition forces had won the war because there were and are still sporadic incidents of fighting taking place in Iraq and also that the coalition forces are yet to completely pull out of the region, it is important to stress that although the war was fought in Iraq, the real war was the one perpetuated by the media through the stories they published which psychologically influenced the public at large and this can be seen as pure propaganda. Without that the coalition forces would not have managed to storm Iraq and win the war within a very short period. According to Jack Straw (Hinsliff 2003 cited in Parry 2010), â€Å"Twenty-four-hour news actually changes the reality of warfare. The media is changing the reality of warfare, it is not just reporting on it†. Given the amount of cov erage the western media managed to achieve in the world at large during the Iraq war, if the media in the Arab world had been able to achieve that on the same scale in the Middle East and other parts of the world, the public may not have supported the war the way they did. This would have led to the morale of the troops being at its lowest and their confidence would also have been down and more importantly America would not have got the support they had from the Allied. [1] Lt. Col. Rick Long was with the U.S. Marine Corps

Life Span Perspectives Paper

In order to truly understand the life span perspectives we must first define developmental psychology, which is a field that falls under the topic of psychology that is centered on describing how individuals change and grow throughout the stages of their life. This field has also been noted to be one of the more popular fields to be studied. We, as humans, must first grasp the concept that before there can be an outcome there has to be a process or a beginning. We can always trace anything that exists back to a beginning, for people this beginning is birth and the developmental processes that follow are individual pieces of the life processes. Charles Darwin had a longing to understand just what evolution was and exactly how it worked; from this desire he drew the study of lifespan development. Adolescence and norms were first introduced to those in the field of science by way of a G. Stanley Hall publication (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Within this book these scholarly individuals could read about the first observational studies of children. Within this paper you will find the definition of lifespan development, a description of the many characteristics of the lifespan perspective, and the identifying factors of the human developmental domains and periods. Lifespan Development We recognize that within the lifespan there had to be a beginning; we know this because of the work of Charles Darwin. Darwin began the inner workings of human developmental studies and those early evolutionists who shared his opinions were soon to join in his studies. Darwin’s goal was to prove his theory of evolution; it was his belief that his best chance of proving his theory was to engage in intense studies of human development (Boyd & Bee, 2006). According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a lifespan is the average amount of time that an organism, material, or object can be expected to survive or last. If we look for further detail and look for the definition of development, we find that development based on biology is the process of organic growth in an individual organism, we also see that this an be defined as a biological occurrence of events in which an organism changes gradually from a simple to a more complex level (Collins English Dictionary, 2003). When we combine these two individual words we end up with a term that defines the individual changes associated with life progresses that can be tracked in correspondence to the individual’s age. People will change many times over throughout their lifetime; these developme ntal periods are the prenatal period, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. In order for one to experience growth developmental change must occur. Life span development will occur over and over, again and again throughout the individual’s life time. Although there are positives and negatives in the developmental process, developmental research and advances will continue to occur throughout an individual’s entire life cycle. Characteristics of the Lifespan Perspective All individuals develop on their own schedule and at their own pace, depending on many internal and external factors. Due to improved nutrition and health and medical knowledge a sharp rise in the average life expectancy has recently been observed. The characteristics of the lifespan perspective are lifelong, multidirectional, plasticity, contextual, multidisciplinary, and multidimensional. One’s development continues throughout their lifespan, there is no certain age that appears to be heavier in this area than others. Continued growth paired with decline affects development which can be said to attribute to the multidirectional portion of the lifespan. Many will seem to focus on the plasticity of the human lifespan, one can see this in the example of a child who has been malnourished, this child may suffer from a diminished intellect but given proper nutrition over an extended period of time the child will, indeed, regain much f the lost function and should eventually catch up to the average for his age. There are many outside forces that have a great effect on human development, these forces can be biological, historical, social, and cultural (Berk, 2007). Lifespan Domain Human Development domains all work together and are affected by one another. The categories of the domains of development are social, physical, and cognitive (Boyd & Bee, 2006). The social domain encases the changes that one may find necessary in order to adapt to a new social environment, or situation, this might include developing and maintaining relationships, and improvement upon general social skills. The physical domain can be defined as the way the humans change their physical appearance. A good example of a physical change is when a child enters puberty, and again as the child becomes elderly. Within this domain it is seen that as the physical appearance changes so will the views that the individual possesses in life. Human Development Periods Psychoanalytic, cognitive, and learning are the three theories that have been shown to produce the most information on human development (Boyd & Bee, 2006). Within these theories we can find information that best explains how one transitions from one moment within their life and essentially evolves to the next level. In discussing human development we must recognize the age old debate of nature versus nurture. Within this theory we must ask which, if either, is truly the strongest influence? Does the environment or genetics play the biggest part in this factor? Conclusion There are many answers that are yet to be discovered in the field of psychology in spite of the fact that there have already been so many discoveries. In the beginning there was Darwin and his theory of evolution†¦.. we do not yet know where the end may take us.

A Brief Note On Diabetes And Its Effects - 982 Words

Diabetes mellitus, simply known as diabetes, is a condition where the body does not process food properly (CDC). Originating in Europe and Africa, diabetes has become the seventh leading cause of death in the United States, in between pneumonia and Alzheimer s Disease. The pancreas, an organ located near the stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose get into the cell of our bodies. A person is diagnosed a diabetic when their bodies do not produce enough insulin or they cannot use their own insulin as an energy source. This causes sugars to build up in the blood as well as major complications. The first case of diabetes recorded in medical textbooks was about 1425 (Dr. Ananya Mandal). In 1675, Thomas Willis, an English doctor, added the word â€Å"mellitus† to diabetes because of the sweet taste of urine. It was not until 1776 when an English physician named Matthew Dobson confirmed that the sweet taste of urine was from the excess sugars in the bloodstream of dia betics. There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2 (CDC). Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes, accounts for 5-10% of the people diagnosed with diabetes. The risk factors include one’s environmental surroundings and genomic DNA. If a person has had a close family member such as a parent or sibling diagnosed with diabetes, their risk of developing the disease is somewhat higher than others. Type 2 accounts for 90-95% of all those diagnosed. This type is more common in teenagers and adults.Show MoreRelatedA Brief Note On Diabetes And Its Effects On Diabetes Essay1161 Words   |  5 PagesDiabetes Policy This paper focuses on people with diabetes. Diabetes occurs when there is impaired ability by the pancreas to produce enough insulin, or the body loses its ability to utilize the insulin produced by pancreas effectively. Consequently, the body fails to regulate the level of glucose in the blood. The failure to control glucose leads to episodes of hyperglycemia, especially after a meal. 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Sally Satels Organ for Sale. - 1154 Words

An Analysis of passion: Sally Satel’s â€Å"Organs for Sale† Sally Satel is an American psychiatrist based in Washington DC. She is a lecturer at the Yale University School of Medicine, the W.H. Brady Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and author. Books written by Satel include P.C. M.D.: How Political Correctness is Corrupting Medicine and Drug Treatment: The Case for Coercion Her articles have been published in The New Republic, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and in scholarly publications like Policy Review on topics including psychiatry and addiction. Satel also serves on the advisory committee of the Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. After being†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Altruism is the sole legitimate impulse behind organ donation† (†¦..), the onetime best U.S best seller further argued that altruistic acts are important qualities of human relationships i n a society. Satel carefully cleared doubts of the notion that compensating donors will commodify the body and dehumanize us, she believes that its better to legalize organ donation than allow people suffer and die. To further commend her argument, Satel analyzed the short term amd long term risks an organ donor faces and to a reasonably fact, â€Å"The truth is that a normal person can get along perfectly well with one kidney. The risk a donor runs is that his single functioning kidney will become deceased or injured and he’ll need a transplant himself—a highly unlikely event† (Satel 451). Satel’s aim is to provoke the emotional response of the readers and persuade them to believe his arguments by carefully giving facts and reliable sources to back his arguments up. In the argument, several rhetorical questions are addressed to the readers. â€Å"is it wrong for an individual†¦. Who wishes to utilize part of his body for the benefit of another to be provided with financial compensation that could obliterate a life of destitution for the individual and his family†.( Richard 449). This question appears to be a rhetorical question that demands the readers em otional response. Satel’s argument is a true life experience of herself. She uses herself as an example whenShow MoreRelatedCritical Analysis of Deaths Waiting List Essay1094 Words   |  5 PagesIn the article â€Å"Death’s Waiting List† Sally Satel argues that the sale of organs should be allowed in the U.S. She hopes to convince the reader that the only guarantee of getting a transplant is to skip the wait list and just buy one. Although Satel makes a good argument she seems very biased and provides biased evidence to support her claims. Satel claims that there is a problem with organ donations. In order to prove this she begins her argument by stating that the wait for a kidney in a big