Iraq

MSNBC & CNN Imitating the Far-Right 'Fox Effect'

by John Stauber — April 15, 2003 - 10:00pm

The New York Times reports on the 'Fox Effect' of MSNBC and CNN imitating Fox's vicious style of biased, nationalistic reporting. "...[I]t has been the Fox News Channel, owned by [Rupert Murdoch's] News Corporation, that has emerged as the most-watched source of cable news by far, with anchors and commentators who skewer the mainstream media, disparage the French and flay anybody else who questions President Bush's war effort. ... Fox's formula had already proved there were huge ratings in opinionated news with an America-first flair.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 16, 2003

Baseball, Tim Robbins, and Apple Pie

by Sheldon Rampton — April 14, 2003 - 10:00pm

"A chill wind is blowing in this nation," actor Tim Robbins told the National Press Club. "A message is being sent through the White House and its allies in talk radio and Clear Channel and Cooperstown. If you oppose this administration, there can and will be ramifications." But Robbins, who was uninvited to the Baseball Hall of Fame in retaliation for his anti-war views, is optimistic. "It doesn't take much to shift the tide," he said.

Main Source: 
Common Dreams, April 15, 2003

Iraqis Get US TV

by Sheldon Rampton — April 14, 2003 - 10:00pm

Iraqis with television reception can now turn on their sets and see a parade of new faces delivering the evening news: Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Jim Lehrer and Brit Hume. The news programming, called "Iraq and the World," is part of an ambitious effort that White House officials say will show Iraq what a free press looks like in a democracy. The U.S. backed news programming will also include stories by journalists working for Voice of America and Radio Sawa, which are also U.S.

Main Source: 
Los Angeles Times, April 15, 2003

Tutwiler, New Top Iraq Flack, May Take Beers' Old Job

by John Stauber — April 14, 2003 - 10:00pm

"Margaret Tutwiler, the United States ambassador to Morocco, left Rabat for Baghdad today to assume a temporary position overseeing all public relations and information operations in postwar Iraq. Ms. Tutwiler, who was the State Department spokeswoman during the Persian Gulf war in 1991, ... also said she was still in discussions with Bush administration officials about a separate offer to return to Washington as the under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. If Ms.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 15, 2003

Who Needs Movies? We've Got the FOX War Channel.

by John Stauber — April 13, 2003 - 10:00pm

"Nearly every military-related film
to reach theaters this year has been a box-office
disappointment, leaving some in Hollywood to question how
much the 24-hour news coverage of the Iraq invasion has
dimmed the public appetite for images of combat," and "some critics suggest that
moviegoers are staying away because they have plenty of
real-time war action already on cable and network news
programs.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 14, 2003

Americans Watching Their War on Cable, Not Networks

by John Stauber — April 13, 2003 - 10:00pm

"With the most televised war in history winding down,
executives at TV news organizations are noticing one
startling detail in how Americans are watching the
coverage: viewers are increasingly tuning out the broadcast
networks' evening newscasts. ... The overall decline in the evening news programs' ratings,
coming at the same time as the three cable news networks
achieved gains of more than 300 percent, could be a
watershed moment in how Americans get their news on
television. ...

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 14, 2003

TV Wraps Itself in the Flag and Sells the War

by John Stauber — April 12, 2003 - 10:00pm

Columnist Frank Rich writes, "There's almost nothing in the war, it seems, that cannot be exploited as a network promo. ... When Victoria Clarke at the Pentagon says Saddam is responsible for 'decades and decades and decades of torture and oppression the likes of which I think the world has not ever seen before,' no one on Fox or MSNBC is going to gainsay her by bringing up Hitler and Stalin. To so much as suggest that the world may have seen thugs even more evil than Saddam is to engage in moral relativism -- which, in the prevailing Foxspeak of the moment, is itself tantamount to treason.

Main Source: 
New York Times, April 13, 2003

Sony, Others, Want to Market "Shock and Awe"

by John Stauber — April 11, 2003 - 10:00pm

"A day after U.S. allied forces marched into Iraq, Sony applied for a trademark on the war's catchphrase, 'shock and awe,' for use as a video game title, according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It was unclear if Sony planned to make use of the name. The application, dated March 21, was first discovered by British publication Media Guardian. The U.S. Patent and Trademark office has more than a dozen applications for uses of the phrase, including for fireworks, lingerie, baby toys, shampoo and consulting services.

Main Source: 
St. Paul Pioneer Press, April 12, 2003

Lack Of Dead Bodies On TV "PR Coup"

by Laura Miller — April 10, 2003 - 10:00pm

"As the war seemingly comes to an end with US troops in the centre of Baghdad, the propaganda war from both sides has become even more desperate," writes Charles Whelan, a former New Labour flack, for PR Week's UK edition. "The Iraqi minister for information has had a job to do made more difficult by the hour. The poor man was forced into making statements at his daily press briefing about how the brave Iraqi troops had expelled the Americans from Saddam Hussein Airport.

Main Source: 
PR Week (UK), April 11, 2003

Saddam's Defeat Changes the Propaganda War

by John Stauber — April 9, 2003 - 10:00pm

Zoltan Grossman writes that "As Saddam and his Ba'ath Party are quickly eliminated, the new occupying powers will also be dismantling their main rationale for occupation. They will not only be erasing their main propaganda points from the media's
blackboard, but with the invaders' main job done, Iraqi civilians and neighboring Muslim states may quickly start asking them to leave Iraq. [W]ithout Saddam Hussein to kick around anymore, the Coalition has lost its most effective propaganda touchstone.

Main Source: 
Counterpunch, April 10, 2003
Syndicate content