The propaganda machine set up by the Bush administration channeled many lies concerning the story of Jessica Lynch. The media, in turn, played and replayed her story to excess. These numerous lies were then published in an article by the Washington Post, on which Krakauer remarks that:
Thanks largely to details first revealed in this article, as well as dramatic video of the rescue distributed to the media by the Army, Jessica Lynch dominated the news for weeks. The details of the incident provided by military public affairs officers made for an absolutely riveting story that television, radio, and print journalists found irresistible: a petite blond supply clerk from a flea-speck burg in West Virginia is ambushed in Iraq and fearlessly mows down masked Fedayeen terrorists with her M16 until she runs out of ammo, whereupon she is shot, stabbed, captured, tortured, and raped before finally being snatched from her barbaric Iraqi captors during a daring raid by American commandos. (207-208)
Krakauer admits that the article expresses there had been no verification of the details relating to Jessica Lynch's story, but this was largely ignored (208). It seems as though the administration was as good at covering their asses as they were at manipulating the public at large. This can be seen in the disclaimer in the article by the Washington Post. The article states that “Pentagon officials said they had heard “rumors” of Lynch's heroics but had no confirmation”(qtd. in Krakauer 208). They knew that truth about Jessica Lynch would eventually come through, and as long as the lies had their desired effect; they didn't care.
The real story of what happened to Jessica Lynch is much less extreme. As Krakauer emphasize...
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...t provided support for the war in Iraq and kept our troops there, the better. As illustrated by Krakauer, “Bin Laden regarded the invasion of Iraq as a tremendous gift from President Bush―a 'rare and essentially valuable' opportunity to spread jihad” and that “the American occupation was fueling Muslim rage even more than the invasion of Afghanistan had, inspiring throngs of Arab men to join the ranks for al-Qaeda” (255).
The Bush administration's treatment and spinning of the stories of these heroic soldiers into a vehicle of propaganda for their own ends was abhorrent. I feel disgusted at their using of people and lies to maintain their unjust war, and their war must be indeed have been unjust if they had to go to such extremes to support it. It is tragic that the people of the United States and other countries have been subjected to this kind of betrayal.
Szegedy-Maszak, Marianne. "The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal: Sources of Sadism." Writing and Reading for ACP Composition. Upper Saddle River: Pearson Custom, 2009. 210-12. Print.
This investigation analyzes how the reports of the Beltway Sniper Attacks were given (newspaper or television, etc.) changed the public’s reaction the amount attention that was given to this event. To be able to analyze this, I will look at different newspaper reports that were published discussing the different ways that the media took to reporting about this event. The varying reasons for differing reports will be explored; along with the different ways these reports affected American citizens.
On July 6, 2005, a federal judge ordered Judith Miller, journalist for the The New York Times, to jail. Miller was involved in the exposure of Valerie Plume as a CIA operative. In questioning, Miller invoked reporter’s privilege by refusing to disclose the identity of her sources, fueling fire to a heavily debated ethical issue in the field of journalism (Pinguelo, “A Reporter’s Confidential Source…Revealed?”). Successful journalism tells the truth to a public who has the right to know it. Journalists have the responsibility to tell us a story laden with facts and the more important responsibility of revealing the source of their information, right? Not necessarily. The right of journalists to keep their sources private has been a long-standing debate. The ethics in this debate are blurry. On one hand, it may be extremely important to the issue at hand that the source of information be known, as an argument could lose credibility otherwise. On the other hand, the source has the right as an American and an individual to remain anonymous. Isn’t it enough that he or she came forward with information at all? Judith Miller’s case garnered public attention and is just one example of many instances that raise the same, consistently debated question- how far can journalists go in protecting their sources and under what circumstances does withholding the identity of a source become unethical for either party involved? The answer to this question is obscure, but solvable. Journalists should have the right to protect to identity of a source unless the information they possess is for the greater good of the public or the situation at hand.
As a Wall Street Journal Pentagon correspondent, Thomas E. Ricks is one of America’s elite military journalists. He has been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize and awarded a Society of Professional Journalists Award for his writings based on the Marines. Thomas E. Ricks lectures to military officers and was a member of Harvard University’s Senior Advisory Council on the project on U.S. Civil-Military Relations. As a Pentagon correspondent, he can access information where no other civilian can step foot—traveling with soldiers abroad, his eyes tell the tale of the life of a Marine.
On the month of April in 2004, in the city of Habbaniyah, Iraq, a brutal and terrible act took place which ignited one of the bloodiest battles in the history of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). Four Black Water security members were killed and publicly maimed. The resulting battle left a high casualty rate as well as hundreds of American service members being wounded. This is the story of the events that took place after the events in the city of Habbaniyah.
1964 was a very turbulent year for America; the people were still mourning the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the war in Vietnam, the cold war, race riots, boycotts, the civil rights movement, thermo-nuclear testing, political divisions, violent imagery was increasing on TV and film, a growing drug culture was becoming apparent, and crime rates were rising rapidly (www.historyorb.com). New York City had over 600 murders in 1964 alone (Lemann), and the residents were awash with fear. Yet during this horrendous time in our history, one reporter wrote an article specifically designed to spark moral outrage from the citizens of New York and the world. Martin Gansberg of the New York Times focuses on thirty-eight frightened residents of a middle class neighborhood in Queens, New York and blatantly accused them of indifference while witnessing the brutal attacks on Kitty Genovese, which ultimately led to her death. He used yellow journalism tactics, a term meaning to sensationalize a story with the express goal of selling newspapers, (oxforddictionaries.com) to carefully craft his version of the truth so it would fit this accusation; leaving out important details and falsifying others, he paints a partially accurate (but mostly inaccurate) picture, endangering the prosecution’s murder case against Winston Moseley.
...”. He further claims that bin Laden’s death was a great achievement and “we’ve disrupted terrorists’ attacks and strengthened our homeland”, but “his death is not the end of our effort”. In order to justify the need for military troops to remain in Afghanistan, he stated that “we must remain vigilant at home and abroad”.
...ore long-term effect on both the media and the person who the false information was about.
The psychological abuse that the four suspects were exposed to made them make a wrong confession. In addition, being in an environment where the interrogation room is tight and dark increased the suspect’s anxiety. Moreover, the Frontline documentary stated that the suspects were held in custody for long hours with Robert Ford who used threatening language in order to make them confess. Not only that the suspects made a false confession, but they also told Ford different stories on how they murdered the victim. The coercive interrogatories, led Joe Dick to accept the label Ford put on him and the others. Although Ford was supposed to act just, he acted upon his self interest. Thus, he denied all facts because of fear of embarrassment of being wrong. However, after serving many years in prison, the four suspects were released to face stigmatization and labeling from the society. Indeed, this case proved that there is a malfunction in the justice system and that there’s a need for an immediate
The car bomb exploded at dusk. Its target – a seven-ton U.S Army personnel carrier- was blown about six feet by the force of the blast. Infantryman John Lamie came out alive, thanks to the armor plating around his machine-gunner’s cupola, but three of his buddies died in the Aug. 3, 2005, attack in Baghdad. Lamie went to Iraq a second time in 2007-2008, before the cumulative effects of combat eventually pushed him out of the Army. (Katel 2)
Minimizing harm done by journalism in times of war is a difficult task. Naturally, there are bits of information that the government needs to keep secret for one reason or another. There is also the danger of victims' stories being exploited and sensationalized. The SPJ's Code of Ethics recommends that journalists should "treat sources, subjects and colleagues as human beings worthy of respect" (Society). During the extreme...
Lynching, which occurred most frequently in the southern states, resulted in the hanging, mutilation, and death of many blacks at the hands of a powerful white ruling class. While lynchings of this type have not occurred as frequently as in previous decades, it has morphed into a new form, a form that is arguably just as devastating. Instead of unjustly prosecuting blacks, this new form of lynching targets celebrities and politicians and media to accomplish what is commonly referred to as “hi-tech lynching”. The job of the media is to relay information to a general public.
“It’s difficult to believe a human being would inflict so much pain and… so much brutality towards another human being,” said Detective Daniel Villars. In the documentary, “The Confession Tapes: 8th and H”, emphasizes on how a false confession tape ruined the lives of five innocent teenagers. Catherine Fuller was the victim of the brutal assault and murder that occurred at the alley of 8th and h street. The documentary argues that the suspects of the murder were teenage boys that were classified as “wolfpack” by the media. Some of them were questioned without their parent’s knowledge, and were all questioned for hours and hours without any break. There were found guilty for the crimes and sentenced 35 years to-life for a murder they didn't
News reporters should use their discretion and publish accurate and true information. In this era of technology, news and information travel across the globe in a matter of minutes, so the role of media is even more important. As readers we should be more careful about what we read and what to believe, which can be done by cross-referencing the information with other credible sources. Media, on its part should be more impartial and critical of the news they publish so that there aren’t any Richard Jewells in the