Archive for April 2nd, 2003
Rumsfeld and the Pentagon (Cont’d)–and the Media
Joshua Marshall has written more about Rumsfeld’s less-than-cozy relatioship with the Pentagon. I find this inside-war-planning stuff quite interesting–and it illustrates an interesting point regarding the media’s coverage of the conflict.
Here in Ecuador, if you pick up one of the local papers, El Mercurio (from Cuenca) or El Comercio (from Quito), you’ll see lots of photos of Iraqi civilians fleeing burning towns. The news coverage focuses on the human element of the war–especially civilian deaths, since Ecuador, like most of the rest of the word, disagrees with the war America’s waging.
But if you check out an American or British paper, you’ll see much more focus on military strategy–elaborate illustrations and maps detailing where troops are going and where coalition forces are dropping bombs. The American media’s portrayal of the war, in particular, is much more clinical and antiseptic than the images and descriptions being broadcast here.