The Press Goes to War

"If those in charge of our society--politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television--can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.

--Howard Zinn from "Declarations of Independence."

Responsible journalism is the foundation of a democratic government. The media should keep the government honest and the people aware of what the government is doing. Journalists have a responsibility to educate us, and the media must be an important watchdog of the government (and corporations). Responsible journalism thrives on a strong investigative component. Not content to sit at their desks and wait for corporations or governmental agencies to send them prepared stories (press releases), gonzo journalists should eagerly pursue their role to research, investigate and report misdeeds in high places. But irresponsible journalism is still the dominant paradigm. The U.S. media, in particular, regularly shirks its responsibility; and now, as it has in the past, it is playing the role of cheerleader for warmongers and murderers. Let's examine our media's history in regards to war, oppression, and suffering:

The U.S. media's support for war has its roots in colonial times. The U.S. press publicized and championed the notion of "Manifest Destiny," and thereby became responsible for the deaths of millions of native Americans. Mainstream U.S. newspapers censored the writings of abolitionists and instead advocated slavery-- again, making them responsible for untold misery.

The facts behind the first major foreign military intervention by the U.S. in 1864 went unreported. The U.S. declared war on Mexico, stating that Mexico had invaded the U.S. when, in fact, the fighting started over an area that had long been claimed by Mexico. The U.S. press fell into line with the U.S. government, and thousands were killed. The same is true for subsequent wars. Do you remember the USS Maine? The Spanish American War started because the press once again failed to do its job. The destruction of the Maine was caused by the explosion of materials on board, not an external bombing, as the press had reported. A U.S. Navy study in 1976 finally confirmed what a Spanish inquiry had concluded in 1898 (and which the U.S. press had ignored).

Similarly, on June 23, 1950, the first reports from U.S. military intelligence were that South Korea had attacked North Korea. This was later confirmed by an admiral in South Korea's Navy. As early as the summer of 1949 there had been major battles of one to two thousand men, mostly with the south as the aggressor. Yet our irresponsible, war-loving press reported, of course: "North Korea invades!"

In 1954, U.S. newspapers depicted the President of Guatemala, Jacob Arbenz, as a communist, after he instituted land reform policies. The CIA organized a military force to overthrow Arbenz. Eventually, Castilo Armas was elected to replace him--Armas turned over all of the land seized by Arbenz to the United Fruit Company. Other CIA operations have resulted in thousands of deaths in Indonesia, Lebanon, Cuba, The Congo, Dominican Republic, Laos, Cambodia, Angola, Iran, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Libya, The Philippines, Panama, Colombia, and Liberia. In 1953 the CIA overthrew Mossadegh in Iran, and Norman Schwarzkopf assisted the Shah in forming the SAVAK, Iran's brutal state police, responsible for murdering thousands and precipitating the Islamic fundamentalist revolution that later toppled the Shah. Where was the U.S. press while all of this was happening? If they reported any of it, it was to directly support the aims of the CIA, U.S. corporations, and U.S. foreign policy.

In 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam, the USS Maddox reported that it had been fired on by torpedoes. It quickly recanted the story, but it was too late for the U.S. press to report what had really happened. Pres. Lyndon Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin Resolution was passed by Congress and the war was on. Instead of exposing the lie and attempting to end the conflict, the mainstream media lined up in support of the U.S. invasion of South Vietnam. 2 million civilian Vietnamese deaths and 50,000 U.S. troops casualties later, and the press still refuses to acknowledge its role in condoning the slaughter.

In 1974, the U.S. press looked the other way as one-third of the East Timorese population was murdered by the Indonesian government, with U.S. planes and weapons. Even today, as Indonesia continues its brutal and illegal occupation of East Timor (with U.S. weapons), the U.S. press doesn't know where East Timor is, and couldn't care less.

Many journalists have not only failed to act responsibly but have blatantly lied. When the first atomic bomb was tested at the Alamogordo bombing range in the New Mexico desert on July 16, 1945, the Manhattan Project hired New York Times Reporter William Laurence as a public relations consultant to issue a press release covering up the event. He wrote a statement saying that an ammunition dump had exploded.

How can we be sure the same type of irresponsible journalism is not happening with the reporting around Iraq? Given the long history of the U.S. press' support for war, we simply can't be sure.

MediaWatch is written every two weeks by members of the MediaWatch collective, a local group monitoring Seattle news media. Our next meeting will be Monday, Feb. 23rd at 6:00 PM, 3rd floor Univ. Baptist Church (4554 12th Ave. NE in Seattle). For info or to get involved, e-mail mediawatch@u.washington.edu or call 632-1656.