Media, Media, Media.
This has been a topic that has bugged me ever since Mr. Anderson and Ms. Garofano enlightened me in my younger years.
I think back to the media coverage during the Vietnam War (I know, I wasn't alive then; let's pretend). The American citizens received full coverage news. They saw everything that happened. Americans saw the impact of the war on innocent citizens and the damage that the U.S. Troops had caused.
Fast forward 50 years. We are sitting in our living rooms watching the progress in Iraq and Afghanistan on T.V. What do we see? We see a media that shows us a missile hitting a small city/town. The difference between now and Vietnam? We don't see the devastation it caused! The most we might see are the cross hairs and an explosion. Beyond that, someone (Usually a military general) announces that it was a direct hit and it took the lives of very few innocent people. Are we supposed to believe this? Yes.
The basis of my argument revolves around the fact that our media is so tightly knit with the White House. In fact, the White House has its own media offices. We don't receive coverage like we used to. We saw the brutality of war. The death. The damage. The destruction.
I truly believe that if the American people saw the toll we have taken on the innocent citizens, there would be no more War on Terrorism (Maybe this comes a little late but think about the future. Will it be any different?). They would be outraged.
Note - Soldiers that came home after Vietnam were not welcomed. They were baby killers. I don't think that trying to stop this from happening again would be a justified excuse for limited coverage like this.
The sad truth is - most Americans have no idea.
I guess one could say the media is a unreliable source? Perhaps, narrator?
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This blogging thing is getting a little easier. Hopefully people are taking some time to read this. Otherwise, it feels kind of like a waste of time. I guess in Part Two I'll talk a little about stereotypes that we see and such. I think I need another day in English class before I make a silly post. I have so many ideas in my head!
I like that you have ideas in your head. I like anyone with ideas in their head. I do not like people with nothing in their head. Because physiologically that would mean they are dead.
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, I believe anything done to prevent more war like this is good. If (and that's a big IF) we are to have war, it should certainly not involve civilians, unlike every war in the past 100 years has done. In terms of the media, as we do live in an age of free information, it is a responsible civilian's job to inform themselves in the way they choose. If they don't trust in the "government" message, they should seek other sources.
I take matters of the military very sensitively now, as I have a very close friend who plans to join the military next year, and I fear for their safety. I don't know how much a less biased media would help end a war, but I'm fairly certain it would.
BTW, your blogging is pretty good! As far as I know; I'm as new as you are.
Oh danka! I think what really grinds my gears is when politicians/presidents say that we are going to war for peace. It is so opposite and it is a way for them to garner support. No me gusta.
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