Propaganda & Mass Persuasion: Journalists efforts shortened in war

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Journalists efforts shortened in war

Many journalists were grouped and sent out into war, but didn't have a lot of footage to back it up. Most of the footage either was shown on TV when they returned or the journalists didn't get to get a lot of footage. It seems the media and news channels didn't display the full effect of what was going on in the war. Journalists were risking their lives to get coverage of the war in the battlefield, but most of their efforts didn't get shown. When they did get footage it took a long process to get it to the companies and editors to view and show them.

"One reporter's copy took as long as two weeks to make the eight-hour drive from the battlefield to Dhahran. A news photographer's film took 36 days. A television correspondent's videotape of two stories never got back at all,". (Hotel Warriors by John J. Fialka)

This shows how the system was/is. Journalists are sent out to get the stories, but sometimes its for nothing. Why send someone out to get a story, have them risk their life and not show or write about what they covered. Maybe not all of the stories could be used, but use more than they did. Its understanding that not every story will get shown or told, but it seemed people held back more than we think and who knows what editors edit out before airing. It seems they show what they want us to see and then for use to imagine what else is happening, though we all could probably figure out a fragment of what else could or is going on.

1 Comments:

Blogger A. Mattson said...

Always be clear on which war and document you are referring to in your post. Context is important.

John Fialka is describing the frustrations of reporting during the Gulf War: lack of access, delays, etc. What can we learn from these frustrations?

Also, try not to use the vague "they" to refer to some unspecified group. Try to be more specific.

4/14/2008 2:30 PM  

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