technology exposing lies!

As I had previously discussed the media management had prevented many transparent journalists to carry out their role effectively.

But this was about to change as technology had become so advanced that journalist could report from any remote location and this time you did not need anyone’s permission to publish your story. The use of blogs and personal websites had become the answer to many obstacles that had prevented individuals to follow the ethical principle of journalism.

However in the introduction of this paper I have commented that government strategies in controlling the media will become more advance and sophisticated with the emergence of these new technologies. 

 

 

“At the end of 20^th century and in the age of contemporary culture, the citizens of western democracies are more knowledgeable about politics than at any other period of human civilization. The thirst for gaining more information about politics and its ethical codes in informing citizens about the administration of government has been a continuous process that has become more accessible through television, radio, newspaper, and now, with the advancing of networking platforms, the Internet. Politicians or policy makers are acutely aware of this, and work hard to develop ethical codes and practices to manage media’s influence on public sphere.”

 

Never less, it is important to highlight that these technologies have helped many hidden stories to come above the surface. The whole issue with the torture of Abu Gharib prisoners are just some of the examples that demonstrate the influence of new technologies.

 

However there are other interesting case studies that became exposed but it was too late so they did not capture maximum attention.  

For example, the girl who claimed she saw Iraqi soldiers taking Kuwaiti babies out of incubators.  Later it became apparent she was the daughter of Kuwaiti ambassador to the U.S , who had been coached to act by the PR firm Hill & Knowlton.  Victoria Clarke the woman who was in charge of this PR firm also became spoke woman for pentagon during the first few years of current Gulf War. Also, she introduces the effective management system of embedded journalism. Danny Schechter’s documentary (2004), ‘Weapons of Mass Deceptions’ offers comprehensive details of the role of media in current wars. 

 

some info about the books that i read for this paper!

Ok first of all I am providing a list of books and journals that I read during this period. This is just to help other individuals who are writing similar papers or books.

 

Bernays, Edward L., 2004,propaganda, new ed, IG Publishing;

 

Debord.G, ,La Société du spectacle, translated from French to English  by Knab, K,2002, treason press. (Originally published in 1967)

 

 

McNair B., 1998. Journalism Politics and public relations. In: Kieran M., ed. Media Ethics, London: Routledge, 51-65

 

Belsey A.,1998 Journalism and ethics: can they co-exist?. In: Kieran M., ed. Media Ethics, London: Routledge, 1-15

 

 

Habermas J., 2003, the structure transformation of public sphere, 6^th ed, Cambridge: Blackwell.

 

Pilger J., 1987, Heroes, New ed, London: pan books

 

Knightley P., 2003, The First Casualty, 3^rd ed, London: Carlton publishing group.

 

Knightley P., 1989, The First Casualty, 2^nd ed, London: Pan Books ltd.

 

Seib P., 2006, Beyond front lines,2^nd ed, England: Palgrave Mcmillan.

 

Herman Edward.s and Chomsky N, 1988, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, 1^st ed, Pantheon Book.

 

Hallin D.C, 1986, the uncensored: media and Vietnam, 1^st ed, oxford university press.

 

Harris R. 1983, Gotcha!: the media, the government and the Falkland crisis, London: Faber and Faber.

 

Sifry M.L and Cerf C (eds), 1991, The Gulf War reader, New York: Random house.

 

Allen T. and Seaton J, 1999, The media of conflict, 1^st ed, UK: Zed books.

 

Baudrillard j. 1991, The Gulf War did not take place, translated from French to English by Patton P. Indiana university press.

 

Kellner D. 1992, The Persian gulf TV war, Boulder: Westview Press Inc.

 

McLaughlin G. 2002, the war correspondent, 1^st ed, UK: Pluto press.

 

Kamalipour .Y and Snow N, 2004,War, media and propaganda global perspective, 1^st ed, U.S: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

 

Chomsky, N., 1928:2002. Media control: the spectacular achievements of propaganda. New York: seven stories.

 

Katovsky .B and Carlson.T, 2004, Embedded , 1^st ed, U.S: The Lyons press.

 

Miladi N. 2006, satellite TV News and the Arab Diaspora in Britain: comparing AL-jazeera, The BBC and CNN, Vol, 32(page 947-960) , Routledge.

 

Bell M. , 1998.The Journalism of attachment,. In: Kieran M., ed. Media Ethics, London: Routledge, 15-22

 

 

 

 

 

Info about the books:

 

 

The above list are the books that I used during this dissertation, obviously I didn’t read every single page of each books but I tried to read chapters that were related to my subject.

Beyond front lines by Philip Sieb was probably one book that I used mostly during this period. Even this book is not as a thick as some of the books that I have read but it offers so much information and background context. It offers brief information about all previous war and how media captured information during those wars. Even though I don’t agree with some of the statement or comments the author has made in this book, I did genuinely enjoyed reading this book as it offered so much interesting facts and figures. The main aim of this research paper was to construct an argument by comparing the timeline of different wars. This book follows the same approach, for example in one point the author provides price information on satellites equipments, suggesting how technology has enabled ordinary citizens to become broadcasters rather than JUST spectator.

Other books such Gulf War did not happen explore war and communication technologies, in this book the author argues that there was no human involvement in the first Gulf War, it was all about the use of smart bombs, however my research has shown that these bombs were not as smart as they has been initially described.

Also the limitation of media access had made American citizens to believe that this war had been carried out so précised. But individuals like Peter Turnley tried to show the reality but at that moment the news and media editors didn’t really want to question or expose the government, it was a happy time for both parties!  One could suggest they were worried that they would be blamed again for causing disturbance in the political sphere, so they just sat back and broadcasted what the officials were providing them. The Gulf War was one of the very first wars that government were applying management strategies that they had been planning very constructively and effectively.

 

However as Internet became more advanced and accessible more information have found there on web pages, questioning government’s actions in previous wars.

People who had information and evidence were now able to demonstrate the reality.  He writes;

 

 

“When I arrived at the scene of this incredible carnage, strewn all over on this mile stretch were cars and trucks with wheels still turning, radios still playing, and there were bodies scattered along the road…. I don’t recall seeing many television images of the human consequences of this scene, or for that matter many photographs published.”

(Turnley 2002)

 

The collection of photographs that he took the day after the ceasefire of 1^st

Gulf War represents the side that media did not managed to capture or if it id there were people who stopped the reality to be revealed to the public.  

 

updating!

As I posted before I have been really busy doing other projects so I haven’t really had the time to update this blog regularly, however as I was writing this research paper I managed to apply a weekly report to my work, recording what I had achieve and some of the findings and facts that I gathered during this period. I try and upload most of these reports in a followed order! 

Its all done!

Ok the dissertation has been handed in… due to a busy schedule and work overload i have been unable to post the rest of my findings and conclusions!!! its all been written and ready to be uploaded… when i get some time this weekend i will make the effort and update this blog! I have been getting message from various individuals suggesting further discussion on these subjects, I will be happy to do it but my priority is set on other projects at the moment! stay tuned!  Abtin  

back on the track

It’s a been while since I have posted a blog entry… I have been busy but at the same time not busy if you know what I mean. However I am still following the attitude of becoming an expert in the subject that I am writing my dissertation on. As one of the lecturers mentioned, “a good dissertation should be a piece of work that offers you information that you previously didn’t know”.

 

I have intended to research and gather information that have not necessary been published in books and articles or if they have, I have tried to look at them from a different perspective.

 

This research has been very instructive as I have realised how much culture and background can affect the way that people are receiving information.

I have looked at news and information from western and Middle East new agencies and have managed to outline their ethics and objectives.

I will be posting more relevant articles on the role of media in combat times in near future.

 

 

summary of my christmas holidays and future plans.

Now I have finished work at GRG, I have the opportunity to get back on track with my dissertation.
During these holidays I have had the chance to read a whole book on war and media and two DVD documentaries, which focuses on Arab media and western media during the Iraq war.
From these documentaries I have written some significant amount notes and facts, which outlines an argument on media in different cultures and background.
I have also been able to examine the relationship between media, military and government during the eras of war as in previous wars such as Vietnam media had been alleged as the main reason of pentagon’s defeat.

One of the case studies that I have planned to interpolate in my dissertation is the differences between known news sources such as BBC,Al-jazzera and CNN.

In this case study I am planning to examine the ethical gathering of news by these sources.

I will be examining the following three categories, which can be acknowledged as the three important elements in any broadcasted material.

1-objectivity
2-balance
3- credibility

The category that I am aiming to focus most is credibility as it has been a debatable subject of mass media’s broadcasts for many years now.
For one week I will be reading, watching news from all these sources and I will examine how they present gathered materials.
I will also observe their approach to culture cues or schemata, background and history related to the same story as my main intention is to conclude a fair judgement.

Vietnam War Covergae

At the moment I am exploring the different periods of war coverage and examine the media and government’s relation during warfare.
The war that has intrigued most has been the Vietnam War and Tet offensive of 1968. It can be suggested that the Vietnam War has been an introduction to imposed censorship on media coverage and new political tactics in order to tackle media negativity tone during unprecedented situations. It is claimed by many political leaders that this was lost because of the unrestricted access of media. But many have discredited these notions and simply believe it was the government who lost the war. The false policies and false promises could be suggested as the main factor of loosing this war. The main issue is that the American public had no clear understanding of why their country was at war, the nations wide patriotism was not present at Vietnam War. The media had made the public to realise that they have been victims of deception, and it was just hippies or antiwar protestors who had disintegrated from supporting this war. Simply the nation had realised they have been too naïve in term accepting their government’s policy.

One could argue that the media did act “mindlessly” in reporting uncensored news but one cannot blame the media for loosing the war.

Herman and Chomsky argue that “Media coverage of the Tet Offensive has been the centerpiece of the critique of the media for ‘losing the war’ by their incompetent reporting and anti-government bias reflecting their passion for confronting authority.”

The media’s responsibility is to question a government and inform the public of any abused power but the governments departments such as the military do like to conduct their business privately, and their business is the professional management of violence. However war is a political act and the public should be educated about their government’s foreign polices and what they are trying to achieve. A war is a far away image from the usual heroic scenes of Hollywood films; war is not a pretty picture.

more on the dissertation

Since I have had the time to concentrate on my dissertation I have had the opportunity to take some notes on how to write a good dissertation, which I believe it will help me to gain a better result.
I must admit that writing essays is not one of my strongest skills as I have always had the problem to make my argument fellow in a structured way.
But I guess writing a dissertation is just providing a structured research. There was a quote by Richard burger that summed up the whole point of dissertation and the quote was “ by the end of reading your dissertation I want to learn something that I did not know before”.
From this quote I have learn that I need to provide unique and interesting argue and points. There is no need for me to say that on Internet the public can find unedited news source, that’s because most people who use Internet know that they are more reliable sources than TV or radio. I should concentrate on facts and case studies that would support any argue that I will state in this piece of writing. For example the footage of Berlin wall that took place in the early house of Sunday, 1961 was not aired in America until Tuesday night.

I have decided to split this dissertation into few main chapters and treat each chapter as a separate essay. Once the chapters are finished I will review and enhance the construction of this dissertation.
The last but the first part of this dissertation will be my introduction. My introduction will be a summary of topics that I will cover in this piece of writing.
I am also taking notes of all terminologies and interesting words that I come across during my dissertation, as they could be useful during the writing of my dissertation.

Lets get started

So I back at home now but I been working at GRG for a week. My plans did not go ahead as I wanted to spend few hours every night on my dissertation but no excuses now I need to get started!! The whole working hours has got me in a good routine again, so I try to do a 9-5 on my dissertation every day of the coming week.

I also got myself a new book, it is called “how the news media cover a world shaped by war”, I red some reviews about it on Internet and I think it is exactly what I am looking for.
I even managed to get a second hand copy, which saved me £8, and I tell you what, it’s good as new! Buying second hand copies is the FUTURE!

The Trust in public media.

This morning I found out that there was guest lecturer who previously worked at BBC so I thought he might be an interesting case for my dissertation.
We managed to get hold of some tickets and also Google his name before it started.
Will Wyatt was senior executive at BBC who has been responsible for some famous documentaries such as they’ve shot Kennedy, good night and good luck.
His discussion in this lecture was mainly based on the “public audiences trust in television”.
His discussion on this topic was followed by a recent report that he had written on a year with queen, which apparently shows the Queen storming out of photo shoot session with American photographer Annie Leibovitz. The alleged scenario was that the Queen had been asked to remove her crown by the photographer, by this she got offended and decided to leave the room.

The next day this was published on all major tabloids and other well-known newspapers with headlines representing the Queen as an old grumpy and arrogant woman.
Later the truth was revealed and new allegations suggested that the whole footage was fake and edited.
During this lecture Will explained how the whole footage was edited and the whole in discussion on this video clip was so engaging and interesting as it became clear that how the construct a edited video clip that had totally changed the original narrative.
The two sequences told a different story and this was a captivating moment as it implied that the media we receive in today’s society are nothing but a manufactured broadcasting.
By presenting the above discussion I would suggest that television news has drifted away as an informative source and somehow it has become entertaining.

These types of scandal create advertising revenue for other media platforms, e.g newspapers.

1- The clip gets uploaded on a public site such as you tube.
2- People see it and become a target for new channels.
3- Newspapers take advantage of it as it’s an important topic on an important person, so the front page is an advertising force for consumers to buy it.
4- Few days after it all becomes clear that it was all a big “cock-up” so that news occupies another part of the front page.
5- The main keys taken to court and other speculations on this story.

The above example is just a brief description of the whole revenue process for different type of media platforms.

But all these cock-ups happen all the time, so does this mean the public are just too kind and forgot all these lies or does this destroy the trust of audiences in public media?