Debating war and peace : media coverage of U.S. intervention in the post-Vietnam era / Jonathan Mermin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mermin, Jonathan, 1966-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War in mass media.

Mass media--United States.

Mass media.

United States--Military policy.

United States.

United States--Foreign relations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (175 p.)

Edition:

Core Textbook

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, c1999.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The First Amendment ideal of an independent press allows American journalists to present critical perspectives on government policies and actions; but are the media independent of government in practice? Here Jonathan Mermin demonstrates that when it comes to military intervention, journalists over the past two decades have let the government itself set the terms and boundaries of foreign policy debate in the news. Analyzing newspaper and television reporting of U.S. intervention in Grenada and Panama, the bombing of Libya, the Gulf War, and U.S. actions in Somalia and Haiti, he shows that if there is no debate over U.S. policy in Washington, there is no debate in the news. Journalists often criticize the execution of U.S. policy, but fail to offer critical analysis of the policy itself if actors inside the government have not challenged it. Mermin ultimately offers concrete evidence of outside-Washington perspectives that could have been reported in specific cases, and explains how the press could increase its independence of Washington in reporting foreign policy news. The author constructs a new framework for thinking about press-government relations, based on the observation that bipartisan support for U.S. intervention is often best interpreted as a political phenomenon, not as evidence of the wisdom of U.S. policy. Journalists should remember that domestic political factors often influence foreign policy debate. The media, Mermin argues, should not see a Washington consensus as justification for downplaying critical perspectives.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Tables

Preface

One. Introduction

Two. The Spectrum of Debate in the News

Three. Grenada and Panama

Four. The Buildup to the Gulf War

Five. The Rule and Some Exceptions

Six. Television News and the Foreign-Policy Agenda

Seven. Conclusion

Appendix

Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612753886

9781400805341

1400805341

9781400817160

1400817161

9781400812684

1400812682

9781282753884

1282753886

9781400823321

1400823323

OCLC:

700688649