|
The Persian Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991), codenamed Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) and commonly referred to as the Gulf War, was a war waged by a United Nations-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Media coverage of the Gulf War was significant for many reasons including CNN's live reporting from a Baghdad hotel, alternative and international coverage, and the use of images. ==U.S. television coverage and the CNN factor== The Persian Gulf War was a heavily televised war. New technologies, such as satellite technology, allowed for a new type of war coverage.〔Moore, Frazier. "(New Tools Showed Gulf War on TV )".〕 The media also had access to military innovations, such as the imagery obtained from “camera-equipped high-tech weaponry directed against Iraqi targets.”〔Humphreys, Donald. "(War on Television )". The Museum of Broadcast Communications.〕 For the first time, people all over the world were able to watch live pictures of missiles hitting their targets and fighters taking off from aircraft carriers from the actual perspective of the machinery. The images of precise land bombing and use of night vision equipment gave the reporting a futuristic spin which was said to resemble video game imagery and encourage the “war drama”.〔“Television: The Persian Gulf War”. Encyclopedia of the New American Nation. http://www.americanforeignrelations.com/O-W/Television-The-persian-gulf-war.html#b%23ixzz1uKXkqB1I)〕 Because of the pool system, however, most television networks relied heavily on the information and imagery supplied by the military.〔“(Television: The Persian Gulf War )”. Encyclopedia of the New American Nation〕 This limited the media’s ability to cover the war, despite those new technologies that created the potential for live coverage. The war was covered live since its beginnings by the three main American networks, as well as the emerging CNN. On the night of January 16, when the air strikes began ABC's Peter Jennings, CBS's Dan Rather, and NBC's Tom Brokaw were anchoring their evening newscasts. ABC News correspondent Gary Shepard, reporting live from Baghdad, told Jennings of the quietness of the city. But, moments later, Shepard was back on the air as flashes of light were seen on the horizon and tracer fire was heard on the ground. On CBS, viewers were watching a report from correspondent Allen Pizzey, who was also reporting from Baghdad, when the war began. On the "NBC Nightly News", correspondent Mike Boettcher reported unusual air activity in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Moments later, Brokaw announced to his viewers that the air attack had begun. However, it was CNN which gained the most popularity for their coverage, and indeed its wartime coverage is often cited as one of the landmark events in the development of the network. CNN was the only 24 hour coverage news network and by the time the war began they had already been doing this type of coverage for 10 years.〔Smith, Perry M. How CNN Fought the War. New York, NY: Birch Lane Press, 1991.〕 When the war broke out they already possessed the necessary equipment and personnel and were ready to follow events in Baghdad on a 24 hour basis. “They had the reporters, satellite, linkups, the engineers, the producers and expert commentators in place or on standby”.〔 In addition when the government warned American journalists that their security might be put at risk because of the bombings, CNN’s Baghdad correspondents Bernie Shaw, John Holliman, and Peter Arnett, as well as the rest of their team chose to stay behind.〔 Furthermore, when the Iraqi authorities decided to expel the rest of the Western correspondents CNN’s team was able to stay behind because producer Robert Winner had spent the last months trying to build cooperative relations with government officials in Baghdad.〔 During the first days of the bombing the CNN team was able to report live via radio from their hotel suite in the Rashid Hotel, while no other network was able to do this.〔 The CNN live coverage from the hotel was also significant since it was unedited. This event was a critical turn to the 24-hour news coverage. Out of the CNN correspondents the one who received the most attention was Peter Arnett who became known for the controversy of his reportages. His reports on the Coalition’s POWs, on the bombing of what was claimed to be a milk factory by the Iraq authorities, and on the bombing of the bunker outside Bagdad where several civilians were killed, were particularly controversial and resulted in him being tilted as anti-patriotic by some.〔 Overall media and television reporting during this first Gulf War has received several criticisms . People like Columbia’s professor Douglas Kellner have argued that the media framed the war as an exciting narrative, turning it into a kind of dramatic, patriotic spectacle and that the anchors of the major American TV networks such as CBS presented a view that seemed to identify solely with the American Military point of view.〔Kellner, Douglas. “The Persian Gulf TV War Revisited”. http://pages.gseis.ucla.edu/faculty/kellner/papers/gulfwarrevisited.htm〕 In the book The Persian Gulf TV War he has also argued that television networks and other media did not provide a balanced account of the events because this did not further the business interests of commercial networks.〔Kellner, Douglas. The Persian Gulf TV War. Westview Press, 1992.〕 General Norman Schwarzkopf referred to the driver of a vehicle in a famous news conference during Gulf War on January 30, 1991 as "The luckiest man in Iraq". He showed a video of a laser-guided bomb destroying a bridge just after the vehicle had driven over it.〔http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/script_a.html〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Media coverage of the Gulf War」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|