1st Edition

Reporters Under Fire U.s. Media Coverage Of Conflicts In Lebanon And Central America

By Landrum R Bolling Copyright 1985
    155 Pages
    by Routledge

    155 Pages
    by Routledge

    News media professionals, especially those covering political events or wars, are often accused of distorting the news or presenting biased and superficial analyses. Coverage of the recent conflicts in Central America and the Middle East has been especially controversial. In this volume, which is based on a series of seminars sponsored by the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, experienced journalists and media critics assess the complaints about coverage and the defenses the media marshall against those complaints. They explore the dilemmas that democratic societies face in trying to preserve traditional freedom of expression while pursuing political goals in ways that may involve the use of force. By analyzing the political impact of television coverage of battlefield scenes and the practical limitations and difficulties under which the media must work, the authors illuminate the powerful role of the media in the shaping of American politics, including diplomatic and military policies.

    Westview Replica Editions -- Foreword -- Introduction -- List of Seminar Participants -- Questions on Media Coverage of Recent Wars -- The War in Lebanon -- Published Analyses of Media Coverage of the 1982 War in Lebanon -- Discussion of Media Coverage in Central America -- Published Critiques of Media Coverage of Central America -- Reflections on Media Coverage of the Third World

    Biography

    Landrum R. Bolling is president of the Inter-Faith Academy of Peace and was research professor of diplomacy at Georgetown University from 1981–1983. He is coauthor (with Craig Smith) of Private Foreign Aid: U.S. Philanthropy in Relief and Development (Westview, 1982).