1991 Gulf War v. Iraq War (Andrew Evans)

Gulf War: Controlled News Coverage and Its Impact on the Public ***please read***

I. Public Opinion
-The public opposed the Gulf War as late as the day it started.
-This image was not shown by the news outlets.
-Less than one percent of news outlets claimed there was opposition to the war (257)
-After the war started debate ceased and the nation supported the war

II. Press
-News Outlets framed the war positively
-did not report the opposition
-continuous coverage of war attached with "primed messages"
-characterized congressional dissent unfavorably (275)
*independent coverage= difficult as access was limited
*The Pentagon Achieved high media control
*stories during war were often changed to reflect message

III. Military control
-directed media message (271)
-technical jargon created confusion and influenced the press's message (278)

IV. Technology
-continuous coverage reiterate bias
-live coverage backed up message (272)

V. The Press and Theories
i. Rally around the Flag: present during the war
-supported Bush's policies rather than those of the Public
-The public changes its opinion based on the bias of the press. The more biased, the less/more favorable an opinion will be (262)
-need for strong support of the president lead to favorable opinion of the elites and of George H.W. Bush (262-263)
-people accepted the media and reverberated its message once the war started

ii.Spiral of Silence: pre-war with influence during the war
-public opinion is influenced by self-censorship and a limited number of messages in the media(263)
-media and individual= create opinion (263-264)
-with the media supporting a positive message and the individual supporting other ideas, the apparent gap between the majority and the individual widens (265)
*representation of a majority consensus acts as a gatekeeper: people create stereotyped worlds and the media forms them (266)

X. Questions
-Should the public matter more in the creation of news?
-How do the spiral of silence and rally around the flag theories interact? What do they create?
-Should the media find other routes for information?
-What opportunities did the media have to obtain unbiased information?
-What difference does new media make with regards to war?
-The authors suggest that such factors can play a role in creating opinion of the war. Was this true of the Iraq War or the Afghanistan war at the turn of this century?

X. PR in the First Gulf War ***please read***
i. control of politics
-PR firm Hill and Knowlton, contracted by the Kuwaiti government, lobbied to obtain politicians support
-directed their efforts at key Republicans, and notable Democrats
-chief of staff connected to Bush
-input of information at conference on Iraq's human rights
-Bush repeated story supplied with firm involved

ii. press
-Hill and Knowlton tried to direct public opinion through media
-created dozens of PR videos that were played by major media outlets
-during war military tried to control image
-released information and videos that toned down civilian casualties and played up reasons for attacking
*created the illusion of a clean war when over 100,000 civilians are killed

X. Questions
-Have PR firms and politicians managed to take hold of news and information successfully? How does this effect the press's check on government?
-Do the large media outlets exaggerate the effects of these politicians and PR firms.
-Do traditions allow for media to latch on and further fabricate an image?


X. Tomgram
I. Bush
-fundamentalist who relied on faith-based intelligence and truth
-disregarded medias "quest for truth"
-critical of media organizations that did not support his policies
-controlled access to information

II. press
-in time of crisis
-large media outlets supported Bushes views in a need for acceptance by administration
-only started to bring skepticism back from the margins after the Iraq war started to go badly

III. Effects
-press seen not as legitimate but for entertainment value
-hampered the medias check on government for a time

X.Questions
-Have politicians found an effective way to control the press's check on government power?
-How did acceptance of the Bush doctrine lead to a problem in the media?
-What other factors are involved in large media outlets current crisis?
-Thinking back to class discussions. Why were media outlets more effected in this war than the Gulf War? How did new media play a role in that demise?