The Media: Goals and Values During War

I would like to discuss the values of Al Jazeera, the U.S. Media, and the U.S. Military during the Iraq war and what their goals were as mediators to the public. I was privileged to watch a documentary called The Control Room that gave me an excellent perspective of the media during war.

What I found interesting was how aggressive Al Jazeera was in capturing the reality of war from both sides and broadcasting it to the Middle East through photos, television, and newspaper articles. This photo is a perfect example of what was typically published on a daily basis.



As seen here, the reality of war was not only read about, but also seen. They valued reality and they had a mission to educate their people with whatever stimuli they could get.

In regards to the U.S. media, I found they were very reserved when it came to relaying information to the public. They were more concerned with how the information would be perceived and digested rather than getting every bit of footage out into the open. You can also tell there was a large amount of competition between the different U.S. news agencies by how staged and glamorous the presentations were. This allowed me to believe that money was also a definite underlying value as well as safety. Al Jazeera captured the war from every angle possible--their live presentations were out in the war zone--nothing was staged and their was no glamour.



As for the U.S. Military, they kept their information well intact. They would say what the media/public needed to hear, but just enough to keep everyone under control. They were very strategic in the type of information they would give out because they knew they were being watched by the enemy. By controlling the flow of information, they were able to protect their troops.

As you can see, all forms of media have their goals and are driven by very different values. If I were to present information to a broad range of individuals, I would personally take the side of the U.S. Media and the Military. There are boundaries when it comes to how much information should be exposed to the naked eye. The reality of war can be very gruesome and most human beings are not in position to digest this type of information without a context. I believe it is the journalist's responsibility to thoroughly analyze and edit the information before presenting it.

For more information on The Control Room, please refer to the link below:
www.noujaimfilms.com/controlroom/site/01.html