BIBLIPEDIA

Media-Conflict-Power: Journalism After September 11

Journalism after September 11 examines the consequences of the attacks on the Twin Towers and what this tells us about modern media and the constraints and compromises that are enforced to ensure our civil liberties are protected. The broadcast of the attacks on September 11th 2001 changed the face of journalism around the world, unified trauma was embraced, and the media worked together to report “a convergence story� (P4 ) to the detriment of journalism’s role in society.

Part One delves into the mindset of the American people in particular, exploring the trauma that changed professionalism to personal opinion, the lack of objectivity as emotions were running high and the most important thing was to be patriotic. Americans are proud of their patriotism, so a unified consensus that “my country right or wrong� was the only right opinion developed and anyone who spoke out rationally was “fuelling the enemy� in the media’s eyes. This gave the government more power and influence, and National Security under the Bush administration would tighten so much that the freedom of speech concerning the terrorist attack was more about the ethics of secrecy than the truth. Condoleezza Rice is reported to have said, “watch what you say� warning the media about showing anymore Bin laden or Al Qaeda tapes. It also explores how reporters reacted at the time the towers fell, unscripted, without the best viewpoint, stuck in the middle of this whirlwind of chaos around them whilst trying to hold their emotions together.

Part Two covers a broader context of journalism before September 11 and the political, social, economic and cultural ramifications that would be felt after around the world. James W. Carey gives a historical insight, citing the way journalists acted with the Watergate scandal, saying a new journalism had been growing ever since, self-absorbed and trivial, and when the towers came down whatever respect was due to the way journalists had reacted afterwards, the damage they had caused to the democratic political institutions up to this point had been brushed under the carpet. From a democratic perspective it was problematic as the press were just repeating what the Bush Administration were telling them, only giving one perspective on the story. This was blamed on poor coverage, swaying the vote of the people, embracing Bush and his ‘America’s New War’ when the media companies were in effect aiding the profiteering by the Bush Administration. Karim H. Karim argues that the cultural objectives set up to report terrorism, violence and Islam had been totally broken by Bush’s administration, and the reason many Muslims have become wary of the west is that the media gives a polarized view of Islam , right or wrong. From their perspective they are badly stereotyped without discussing the ‘peril’ they have been subjected to.

Part Three firstly looks into the role the internet had played over the coverage. The comparisons between TV reporters and online journalists trying to cope with vast demands and how many people uploaded their own witness accounts, showing a shift to first person perspective journalism. It goes onto state that this personal viewpoint used by the media companies ignores larger political issues. This is then discussed in relation to the British press, how the papers reacted and how the language, delivery and the differences between the ranges of papers give different messages.

Part Four concludes by looking to the future of Journalism and what measures need to be addressed for future reportage: Issues of journalist safety and patriotism, how trauma changes articulation, and the increasing role of public comment are analysed as well as the delineation between “domestic� and “foreign� news in an international media environment. Due to the intervening years between the publication of this book and this review, this section is particularly interesting as we can see that the pressures involved in the media have indeed led to new forms of war reporting with embedded reporters, such as the new collective news organisations like The Huffington Post. The spread of consumer comment across the media changes the division between journalist and citizen, and the revaluation of how to report on western government claims after the perceived failures of the media in the build up to the Iraq war.

Journalism after September 11 manages to address a broad range of media topics in relation to September 11th, 2001. The media’s role in that day and the preceding system are analysed, and the new considerations taken within the media and the future of the media dealing with more traumatic events are discussed. The essays within the book manage to advocate a new way of thinking about what we need from the media in western society, and what the repercussions can be when the media fails to properly question events in the world.

Tags: 11th bush journalism media media-conflict-power september terrorism

Review posted by: rsumner on Fri 06 Mar 09

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