paper new media archaeology - max van der pluijm

7/28/2019 Paper New Media Archaeology - Max van der Pluijm

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Televisedwars!

Experiencingpoliticalwarfarethroughthetelevision

Author: M.A.vanderPluijm

Solis-ID: 3727726

Email: [email protected]

Datecompletion: 16-04-2012

Academicblock: 32011/2012

Course: NewMediaArchaeology

Professor: ImardeVries


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Contents

INTRODUCTION 3

CHAPTER1-TELEVISIONTOTHERESCUE 5

CHAPTER2-WHENTELEVISIONGOESTOWAR 9

CHAPTER3-POLITICS,NEWSANDENTERTAINMENTINTERTWINED 14

CONCLUSION 18

BIBLIOGRAPHY 19


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Introduction

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, media apparatuses seem to be more and more

importantthanatanyothertimeinhistory.Inanerawhentheaspectofglobalizationhasaccelerated

withtheemergenceofnewmediatechnologies,suchastheradio,television,mobiletelephonesand

eventheInternet,sharinginformationisnotjustanationalthing,ithasbecomepartofaglobalunity

(Castells2010:357).Withtheglobalsharingof information, certainopportunitiesaroseforvarious

actorswithinthemedialandscape.Nationaltelevision,press,andmanymoreinstitutionswere,and

still are, included in an immense worldwide flowof information and thoughts. Nowadays,mostly

symbolisedbytheInternet,mediaofferalotofpossibilitiesforeverybodywhohasdirectaccesstoit.

Oneof theopportunitiesthat are frequently used, even since the formation of theearly

RomanEmpire,istheuseofmediainlightofpropaganda.EveninthebeginningoftheageofJulius

Caesarthereweresignsof propaganda.By puttinghis headas first oneever oncoins, this would

result in the earliest forms of propaganda (Jitta 1974: 110). For in fact, Caesar did not had any

newspapershecoulduse,radios,televisionsoreventheInternet,towinoverthemoralelementand

publicrelations.Since theseaspectsarehalfthebattleaccordingto Napoleon,whichin thesedays

stillstandsforthebattlesfoughtoverintheworld.Butthequestionmayarisewhatthedefinitionof

propagandais.

Inthetraditionallysettings,propagandaoftenhasadarkmeaning,whichisnotthecasein

everysituation.Propagandainitselfisnotnecessarilysomethingthatisevil.Throughouthistorythe

politicianshavealwaysattemptedtoinfluencethewaythedifferentpublicsseetheworld.Theword

propaganda isnotsimply a sinisterwordon what the otherside does,whileone onitsown side

concentrateson informationorpublicity.Moderndictatorshipshavenever felt theneed tohide

from the word in the same way that democracieshave done.As the Nazishad theirMinistryof

Propaganda, so had the Soviets their Propaganda Committee of the Communist Party, while the

BritishhadaMinistryofInformation,andtheUSAanOfficeofWarInformation.

Whatisinterestingisthenotiononhowdifferentpublicsseetheworld.Forherewecan

makeaconnectiontothetelevision.Becausetelevisionletsyouexperiencethatwhatishappeningin

theworld,inaselectedtelevisionprogram.Inawaythetelevisioncanbeseenastheextensionofthe

sensorium,whereitextendstheeyes,earsandphysicalpresenceandthuscreatesadualsenseof

placewheretheearalsobecomestheeye(Arnheim1958:160;Buonanno2008:17;McLuhan1994:

90; Schwartz1974: 16). But what ismost interestingto see isthatthe television throughout the

historyhasbeenusedforpoliticalneeds,alternativelypropaganda,although thatwasntthe initial

idea.Evenuptilltodaytherearehintsofpropagandahiddeninnewsprograms,electionsandeven

televisionseriesalsomentionedasentertainment.The televisionandpoliticalwarfareseemstobe

intertwinedwitheachother.Byexaminingtheseaspectsfromanarchaeologicalpointofviewwecan

get a better picture ofhow the political influence ispresentat different mediawithin the media


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landscape.Bytakingthetelevisionasaleadinthisresearch,connectionstowardsothermediacanbe

madewithoutease,insteadofdiscussingeverymediumexcessivelythatispresentatthemoment.

Insummary,whatIwanttodoisrecallafewoftheinitialideasthatcameupwithinvention

ofthetelevision,contrastthistotheperiodwhenwarwasfoughtoverthetelevision,connectthisto

thenowwheredifferentexamplesofintertwinedentertainmentandpropagandashallbepresented,

andthenaskhowtheseexamplesreflectuponthemedialandscape.Inparticular,Iwanttoaskhow

by examining the television as part of the media landscape, politics and entertainment are

intertwinedwitheachotherwithinthelastcentury.

Thisresearchwaswrittensoastoreachtheacademicaudiencesandthegeneralalike.In

ordertoprovideeasyaccessforthosewithoutextensiveknowledgeofthetechnicallanguageabout

thevariousconceptsdiscussedinthisresearch,theapproachhasbeenmadesimpleenoughforall

audiences to understand the research. The technical language that someone wouldoften find in

mediaarchaeologicalstudiesisexplainedwhenandwhereneeded.Furthermoretherehasbeenan

extensiveanalysisof themediaandpropagandathathasbeenimplementedin thisresearchwhere

theexplorationofhowmediaandpoliticalinstitutionsmainlyoperateintheUnitedStates,andin

manycasesthroughouttheworld.Bigandimportantconceptsareexplainedinaclearandsensible

way, so that the reader will be givenenough exampleswithin each chapter to support the main

themeinthisresearch.Thisapproachmakesthisworkarelevantcaseforanumberofvariousfields

withinacademicandgeneralperspectives.

Thestructureofthisresearchhasbeenkeptsimple,resultinginthreedifferentchapters.In

thefirstchaptertheutopianthoughtstowardsthetelevisionwillbestipulatedanddiscussed.Though

televisionisacentralmediuminthisresearch,itisimportanttorelatethemediumtoothermedia.In

thesecondchapterthecentralideaishowthetelevisionbecameawarmachinefromthemomentit

becameapopulardevice.Toconcludewiththethirdandlastchapter,wheretheintertwinementof

politicalinfluences,newsandentertainmentwillbediscussed.


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Chapter1

TELEVISIONTOTHERESCUE


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Utopianthoughtsconcerningthetelevision

Thesedaystelevision isstill seen asa central part ofthe home and isdispersed more and more

throughout thehomeand, especially, located in thebedroom. (Livingstone2010: 306; Silverstone

1994:100).ThoughtheearlyformsoftelevisioncanbetracedbacktoaGermaninventionin1884,

namelytheNipkowDiskbyPaulGottliebNipkowandthelateronexperimentaltelevisionbyJohn

LogieBaird,television,asweknowittodayusesaprocessdatingbacktothe1930s(Howett2006:13;

Huhtamo&Parikka2011:248).Andeventhatisfarfromthetelevisionafter1945.Itwasinthe1930s

thatGermany,GreatBritainandtheUnitedStatesallhadtelevisionprogramming,butitwasonly

availabletoaselectnumberofpeople,mostlytheprivilegedones.

In order to explain the intertwining of the entertainment and political influences, it is

necessarytodescribehow thetelevisionwasperceivedas intheearlydays.Withthearrivalof the

television,therewerealotofutopianthoughtsconnectedtoitandwiththeknowledgeofthepast

wecannowstipulatethatwerecognizevariouselementsofacertainmediumintoanothermedium.

Inotherwordsremediation:acentralideaforthinkingaboutnewmediasincethisconceptsuggests

thatallnewmediainawayadaptelementsfrompreviousmedia(Bolter&Grusin1999).Letustake

this thoughta littlebitfurther sincethisis something that reoccurs throughouthistoryandwecan

definethatasadjvu-likeexperience.Thisdjvu-likeexperiencewithinthedevelopmentofmedia

issomethingthatErkkiHuhtamo,asamediaarchaeologist,studiesexcessively.Huhtamopaysalotof

attentiontothelifeoftopoi,orinothersomewhatclichdterms,elementsthatsproutoutoverand

overagaininmediahistory.Thisprovidesusa sortof roadmapforexperiences.Whatmayseemat

firstnewoftenprovestobejustnewpackagingofideasrepeatedduringhundredsandmaybeeven

thousandsofyears(Huhtamo1997:222).Inotherwords,thenewinnewiseventuallynotnew.This

particulartheseforgedbyHuhtamo,makesiteasytoconnectthetelevisiontothebroadermedia

landscape. As for the utopian thoughts, Fredric Jameson, an American literary critic and Marxist

politicaltheorist,statesthatutopianismcanbe seen[a]s awholedistinctprocessin itsownright

(Jameson2005:10).Thisissomethingthathastobetakenintoaccountfor,mainlybecauseof the

thrivingneedofautopianworld.Toputthisinperspectivewewillbrieflydiscussthetelegraph,the

telephone,theradioandthetelevision.

Whenwelookforinstanceatthetelegraph,thepredecessorofthetelephoneandinaway

remediatedineveryothertechnologicalmedium, itis interestingto seehowtheelectric telegraph

madetheutopicthoughtoflongdistancecommunicationpossible(Douglas1986:37;Kern1983:11).

Because of the availability of electricity in the 1800s, itwas a next big step inusing the electric

telegraph.Theelectric telegraphbecamepopularunder thepublicandwassociallyaccepted.Over

200submarinecableshadbeenlaidandthushumanitysucceededinmakingvirtuallyeverycornerof

the earth a link in a worldwide chain of communications (American Telephone and Telegraph

Company 1922: 82). This concept of an earth where everybody is connected through media

apparatuses is something that is also defined as the global village concept. Marshall McLuhan

describedhowtheglobehasbeencontractedintoavillagebyelectrictechnology(McLuhan1962:31).


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Everybodyisconnectedtoeachotherandnowadaysthetermglobalvillageismorecommonlyused

asametaphortodescribetheInternet.Still,therewerealltheseutopianthoughts,aswemaynow

talkaboutslighthintsofhindsight,ofwhetherthetelegraph,andlaterthewirelesstelegraph,would

bringpeaceintotheworldandmaketheworldaglobalvillage(Douglas1986:37;Kern1983:13).So

theconceptoftheglobalvillageisnotsomethingthatwascoinedbyMarshallMcLuhanafterall,for

in fact researchersand popularnewspapers in thelate 1800s werealready writing about a global

unity.

Thisspecificelementinhistory returnedagainwiththe introductionofthe telephone.The

introductionofanewmedium(andwhatisnew innewhere)adapteditselfslowlyintosocietyand

wasgraduallyaccepted.Togiveanindicationoftheperiodwhenthetelephonewasintroduced,the

notion of Alexander Graham Bell, given by Sidney H. Aronson applies perfectly in this context.

Aronsonstatesthat[t]hetelephonecametoAmericaandtherestoftheworldonMarch10,

1876;on that day, asfar asis known, Alexander GrahamBell becamethefirstpersonto transmit

speechelectrically (Aronson1977:15).Again theutopianvisionreturns within this context, when

talkingabouttherestoftheworld.AlsotheAmericanTelephoneandTelegraphCompany(AT&T)for

instancesawthetelephoneasamedium,whichwouldbringalpeopletogetherandunitesthemto

speakthesamecommonlanguageandunitetheearthintoonebrotherhood(Pooletal.2002:128-

129).

Thenagain,we have theradio.The discourse surrounded theradiowasmore or less the

sameaswhatwesawwiththetelegraphandthetelephone.Utopianvisionsofhowtheradiowould

connectustothedeadpersons,maketheworldaglobalvillageandin theendconnectustoMars

(Boddy1994:107-108;Douglas1986:54).Insomemindsitwouldevensavethelivesoppeopleand

eventually cure theworld (Douglas1986:37). The radio nonethelessbecamequite popular in the

averagehousehold.Mostofthetimethiswasachievedbecauseofthebrilliantmarketingconducted

bythevariouscommercialisedradiocompanies.Tomaketheradioanacceptedmediaapparatusin

thehouseholds,it wasnecessary to convince thewomen of itsimportance. Thewomen wereat

homemostofthetimeandthusbecameaninterestinggroupforthecommercializedsectionofthe

market(Boddy1994:112).Specialisedradioprogramswerecreated,whichsuitedtheneedsof the

women(ibid.:114).Whenwelookatthemorerecentperiodwiththediscoveryofthetelevision,weseethat

thenotion ofdistanceagain is a centraltopic (Arnheim1958: 160; Elsner,Mller& Spangenberg

1994: 113). The utopian visions of the public, the free-floating fantasy as Monika Elsner,Thomas

MllerandPeterM.Spangenbergstateit,wereanillusionaryhorizonofexpectations(Elsner,Mller

&Spangenberg1994: 117).Theystipulatethattherewasanewhorizonofcommunicationforged,

exceptthiswasnotcommunicationashowwenormallywouldexecuteit(ibid.:112).Itwasperceived

asone-sidedcommunication.Onecharacteristicofthetelevisionhowever,isthatitinawayextends

thehumansenseorgans,orasElsner,MllerandSpangenbergliketoputit:[a]rtificiallyenhancethe

abilitiesofthehumansenseorgans(Ibid.:110).NowadayswealsohaveMcLuhanwhowroteabout


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theextensionofthesensoriuminhisextensiontheory(McLuhan1994:90).Thisisratherinteresting

tosee,becauseoneofthecentraltopicsofthethesesElsner,MllerandSpangenbergwroteaboutis

thetransformationofperceptionthroughtechnicalmedia(Elsner,Mller&Spangenberg1994:109).

Here we can combine the thoughts of distance and extension of the human sense organs. This

sentenceisveryimportantanddescribesinasinglebreathwhatthetelevisionwasandisallabout.

Seeingwhatishappeningintheworldandexperiencingitasifyouwerethereyourself.ButasElsner,

Mller and Spangenbergput it, it wasnt easy for the television tobeseenasa replacement, an

alternativeforthetelegraph,telephoneandradio(ibid.:122).Thefactthatimagescouldbesentand

visualised through themedium was alreadyan exciting development.Butpeople tended to want

morebecauseofthereturningfactordesiretocommunicatewitheachother.Asoftoday,withall

thesevariousdevelopedmedia, thetelegraph, telephone,radioand thetelevision, theyarein fact

combinedintoasinglemedium,calledtheInternet.

In retrospect we can conclude that the various discussed media apparatuses were

overwhelmedwithnotionsoftechnologicimaginaire.Thedeterministicthoughtsthataradiowould

curetheworldofitsdiseaseswereofcourse(aswenowmayknow)farfetched.Thesedeterministic

thoughtshowever,arestillnoticeableinmorerecentperiods.WhenwetaketheInternetforexample,

andthevariousmediaimplementedwithinit,thenotionsofagloballyconnectedplanetthroughthe

mediumisprettymuchthesameasacenturyagowhiletalkingaboutothermedia.Thesamegoesfor

the mobile phones and ofcourse the smartphones, and the most recent developmentofGoogle

whereglassesmakeyourworldabetterplacetolivein(Google2012).Theystatethatthiskindof

technologywillhelpyouexploreandshareyourworldwherethenotionofputtingyoubackin the

moment,orbackonthemapasonemightstateit,isyetagainaverydjvu-likeexperience.The

constantreturningofthesenotions,thattechnologywillmaketheworldalittlebitbettertolivein,is

something that has been an ongoing phenomenon for centuries now. What is interesting to see

however is that besides themedium itself,the content is a very noticeableworthy aspect.In the

upcomingchapterthetelevisionwillbeplacedagainasacentralmedium,whereanobservationof

howthetelevisionbecameawarmachinewillbeenlightened.


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Chapter2

WHENTELEVISIONGOESTOWAR


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Thewarmachinecalledthetelevision

Whenconnectingbacktotheintroduction,wherethequoteofNapoleonwasintroduced,whostated

that in war the moral element and public relations are half the battle, we can now make an

interestingshift from utopianism towards,as I would like to call it,the warmachine or inother

words,thetelevision.Thismediumeventuallybecamebeingusedforpoliticalwarfareandpolitical

influences,orpropaganda,invariouskeymomentsinhistory.Althoughtelevisionasamediumwas

usedinvariousperiodsinhistoryexcessivelyforpoliticalwarfare,itwasnottheonlymediumthat

was used for this particular aspect. Besides the television the radio, newspapers and even

photographsand many more othermedia, were used for a history full of information related to

propagandisticgoals.Thetelevisionwillthereforebeusedasareflectionuponthemedialandscape,

this as stipulated before, with various references towards other mediaused in the same period.

Althoughnomediumis thesame,theperspectiveofHuhtamocanbeappliedtothemandthuswe

canspeakofdjvu-likeexperiences,whichenablesustopicka certainmedium.Toillustratehow

thetelevisionbecameamediumofpoliticalwarfare,foreverysideofthebattle,whichhastobesaid

ofcourse, therewill bereflectedupon threedifferentwars that tookplace inhistory.Respectively

WorldWarII,TheVietnamWarandtheGulfWar.

WorldWarII

PeoplenowadaysmostlyrelatepropagandatoWorldWarII.AperiodinwhichAdolfHitler

andJosephGoebbels,apersonwhowasseenastherighthandofAdolfHitler,extensivelyusedmedia

to reflect their thoughtsupon the public opinion.Mostly by the excessive use of pamphlets and

foremost radiobroadcasts.As Elsner,MllerandSpangenberg state, [i]n themedia systemof the

ThirdReich,televisionwasnotneeded,eitherasadirectpropagandainstrumentlikeradioorasan

offeringofentertainmentandescapeliketheUfAproductions(Elsner,Mller&Spangenberg1994:

137).Eventhoughthetelevisionwasatthattimeanexperimentalmedium,whereithadtocompete

with the popular radio and film, which were both alreadyglobally accepted in the 1930s, itwas

somethingthatwasonthebrinkofabreakthrough(ibid.:107).BecauseoftheoutbreakofWorldWar

II,thetelevisionprogramminghadtobeshutdowninGermany,theUnitedKingdomandtheUnited

States.Therewerethosewhowouldstillbroadcastsomething,butitwasasminimalasitcouldget.

This simultaneously meant that the development of the television was put on hold. So from a

practical point of view, we could state that television is a post-1945 phenomenon. Nonetheless,

televisionwasstillusedintheWorldWarII,butmoreinpublicoccasions(ibid.:107)

ItdidnotfittheexpectationsoftheGermanpoliticalambitionsandclearlydidnothavethe

perceivedimpactonthepublicasinlightoftheradio.Radiotransmissionsweremoreoftenusedin

termsofpoliticalexpressions.NotonlybytheGermansbutalsobyforemosttheUnitedKingdomand

the United States (Short 1983: 193). Through the radio they would daily sent foreign languagebroadcastsintoenemyterritoriesdisguisedasnews.Thebroadcastswereintendedtocontributeto


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theloweringofthemoraleamongthegeneralpublicandthearmedforcesofthetargetedcountries.

NonethelessGermansexperimentedgreatlywiththisnewmediumcalledthetelevisionandcreateda

nationaltechnologicalmyth(Elsner,Mller&Spangenberg1994:129).

Butasidefromtheradioandtheriseofthetelevision(althoughslowbutforsure),cinema

wasalsousedextensivelyintermsofpropaganda.Noteverybodyhada televisionintheirhomeof

course,sothecinemawasacreativeandeasywaytodistributethegoalsforgedbythegovernments

andpresentthem to themass.WaltDisneyand Looney Tunes wereamong thelargerproduction

companies who supported the United States. In the next chapter this particular aspect will be

explainedinamoredetailedsense.

So here are the hints of political influences through animation. Paul Virilio, who is best

known forhis writingsabouttechnologyas it hasdeveloped in relationto speed andpower, with

diversereferencestoarchitecture,thearts,thecityandthemilitary,proposesthatcinemaiswar.

Which also applies to the increased extension of audio-visual technology into thedomesticspace

through television. So the Nazis had wielded the new cinema apparatus (and to some degree

televisionalso)todevastatingeffect,mobilisingtheirpopulationthroughpropagandaintoastateof

totalwar.Todays televisioncanservethesamepurpose;butasViriliopointsout,withvideosand

walk-mans (and now we should add smartphones, pcs and laptops as well) we are increasingly

directors of our own reality (Virilio 1989: 66).The increasing mobilityof audio-visual technology

makestheentireworldintheendapotentialscreen.Inamorerecentwar,theVietnamWar,the

televisionplayedaneven greaterpart inbecoming a true warmachine.Withthe trueuprising of

televisioninthe1950s,thefocusshiftedandpoliticiansincreasinglyconcentratedtheirattentionto

thenewdomesticscreens(Reeves1999:6)

Vietnam:TheTelevisedWar

In1963televisionnetworknewsexpandedgreatlyfromfifteentothirtyminutebroadcasts(Mangouri

etal.2010:5).AlthoughnewscoverageoftheVietnamWardidnotreallyproducedmuchliveimages

ofthe violenceintothe homesof the millionsof Americans, mostly because ofthe fact that the

fightingusuallytookplaceatnightinremotejungleareas.Itstillproducedoneofthemostdiscussed

piecesofnewsthatwouldcomeoutoftheVietnamWar.Thiswastheexecutionin February1968,

whenaVietcongsuspectwasexecutedbyaSouthVietnamesechiefofpolice,attheverybeginningof

theTetOffensive,whichlateronmarkedachangeintheVietnamWar(Thomas1998).TheVietnam

War,whichlastedfrom1957till1975wasatruewarfoughtoverthetelevision.Thereasonswhy

America was involved in Vietnam sort of goes along the lines that the south (non-communist)

Vietnamwasinvadedbythenorth(communist)VietnamandtheUnitedStatescametotheaidofthe

south.Allsortsofmisleadingreasonswhy theUnitedStateswas involvedinVietnamweregivento

the American society. As we know now these reasons were untrue, but it required massive

propaganda to create this standard and accepted image. This historical amnesia, as John Pilger,


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Australianjournalistanddocumentarymaker,states,isnotaccidental.Moreoveritdemonstratesthe

ridiculouspowerofthedominantpropagandaduringtheVietnamWar.DuringtheVietnamWarthe

constantAmericangovernmentlinewasthatthewarwasessentiallyaconflictofVietnameseagainst

Vietnamese.In this light theUnited Statesbecamemistakenlyinvolved(Pilger2001:178).Through

thevariousmediathepoliticianswereabletospreadtheiridealisticthoughtsoverthepublic.Bythis

timethetelevisionmaybehadbecomethemostimportantsourceofnewsfortheAmericanpublic,

andpossibly themost powerfuland influentialmedium towards thepublic opinion itself.Around

1966thetelevisionwasplacedinnearly93percentagesoftheAmericanhomes(Bonior,Champlin&

Kolly1984:18).Thisincontrastto16yearsearlierwhenthiswasonlya9percentage.Soonecould

concludethatthetelevisionhadmadeitsuprisingin theUnitedStatesaround that time.American

citizens responded in a series of surveys, conducted by theRoper Organization for theTelevision

InformationOfficefrom1964till1972,thattheymoreoftenturnon thetelevisionas theirprimary

sourcefornews(Hallin1989:106)

ButwhatalsohappenedwasthattheRoperorganisationaskedpeoplewhichmediumthey

trustedmostwhenseeingaccountsofthewar.Whatresultedwasnearlyhalfoftherespondentsin

1972saidtelevisionwasthetrustworthiestmediumtheyowned(ibid.:106).Mainlybecauseoftwo

presentelements,visualsandpersonality.Thevisualelementoftelevisionallowsviewerstofeelasif

theyarepartoftheaction.Whennewsprogramsairedimagesofbattlesanddeath,Americansat

homefeltasiftheytoowereinthejunglesofVietnam,justliketheearlierdescribedextensionofthe

sensesconnectedtoplace.Additionally,intensevisualshelpedinexplainingtheverycomplexnature

ofwar towardsAmericanswho couldnotunderstandthemilitarystechnicallanguagemostofthe

time.AnchorsandreportersquicklybecametrustedwithintheAmericanhouseholds,mostlybecause

of thepublic that would turn to them everynight fortheir daily information.WalterCronkite, an

Americanbroadcastjournalist,wasevenreferredtoasthemosttrustedmaninAmericathroughout

thewar(ibid.:106).Thistrustallowedthefacesoftelevisionnewstohavesomeinfluenceonhow

manyAmericanswouldperceivetheVietnamWar.Americans,inthatlight,increasinglydependedon

televisionforimagesandaccuratestoriesabouttheVietnamWar.Intheendtheywerewatchingan

editedversionofthewar,awarthatwasanextremelycomplexwar

TheGulfWar19901991

When reflecting towards the most recent war of the three, the Gulf War was another excellent

exampleofhownewscoverageofinternationalconflictstodomesticaudienceswasstrictlycensored

andshapedbythemilitaryinaseriesofpressconferencesandnewsreleases.Surgicalbombingand

collateral damage were euphemisms describing tremendous infrastructural damage and dead

civilians,andillustratedwithremoteaerialshotsdevoidofhumancasualtiesduringtheGulfWar.In

theGulfWar,thattookplaceinIraq,alotofnewscoveragewasexecutedinthosedays.Thedifferent

mediawereusedforinfluentialpurposes.Welltoagreatextent,however,duringtheactualwar,asin


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previouswars,thevariousnationalmediahadtorelyonthemilitaryforcesforaccesstoeventsand

foraccesstotheirbroadcastnetworks.Soitwasrathereasyforthemilitarytodecidewhatwouldbe

seenasnewsandwhatforafactnot.IncontrasttotherelativelyfreereportinginVietnam,the

UnitedStates soughttomanagereportingfromtheGulfWarbyinstitutingasystemofpresspools

withitsarmedforces.

BoththeIraqisandtheUnitedStateshadthepreviouswarinmind.TheVietnamWarwas

stillrooteddeepintheirformulationsoftheirpropagandastrategies.Butasstatedbefore,thepress

freedomwas a utopian thought by itself. As David Samuels, an American non-fiction writer,best

known for long-form journalism and essays, writes about the press not having any police itself

(Samuels2002:58).HethengoesfurtherbystipulatingthiswasaleftoverfromtheVietnamWar,

sincetheAmericangovernmentconnectedthe lossofthewarto thetelevision (ibid.:59).Though

there wasa strictpolicy concerning whatcould be filmedandwhatnot, there still wasextensive

televisioncoverage,whichthenresultedinanunderstandingofthewar(McCombs2004:124).The

publicaffectionstowardsthewargrew,allbecauseofthepoliticalinfluencestowardsthemedia.


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Chapter3

POLITICS,NEWSANDENTERTAINMENTINTERTWINED


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Theintertwinementofpolitics,newsandentertainment

Whentakingintoaccountthefactthatthemilitary,inotherwordsthepoliticians,wereinfluencing

the broadcasts may taste a little bit weird at times. However, the presence of underlying

propagandistic messages in news broadcasts and entertainment is something that is an ongoing

processineverydaylifeandthathasbeentheresincethebeginningwhentelevisionbecamepopular.

Theassumptioncouldbemadethatpoliticalpowerwielderswoulddoanythingtoconquerthesouls

ofthemass.ThisisnotsomethingthatonlyhappensintheUnitedStatesbutcanbecharacterizedas

a globalphenomenon.Popularbroadcast channels like FOX, TheBBCand Al Jazeera, butalso the

DutchbroadcastchannelslikeVeronicaandNet5,andmanymorearepartofthisinfluentialprocess.

Tokeepitorganizedandclear,theUnitedStateswillbetakenasapointofinterest.Mainlybecause

ofthevariousbroadcastchannelsandmanyexamplesthatcouldbegiven.Tostartoffwithacentury

ofhistoryrelatedtoentertainmentwillbecoveredwhereseveralexamplesandcriticalnotestowards

theintertwiningofpoliticsandentertainmentwillbegiven.

Acenturyofentertainment

With the introduction of the television and the outbreak of the Second World War, Disneys

involvementwithreality-basedfilmsbecameadailyfeedforpropagandisticmessages.Someofthe

mostinfluentialmessageswerecommunicated,orinotherwords,injectedintothemasswherethe

studiobecamea production centrefor propaganda films (Riper2011: 5). Oneof themost famous

propagandashortswasDerFuehrersFacewhereDonaldDuckwaslivingadepressinglifeofonly

workingandhearinglies,placedintheThirdReich(WaltDisney1942).Theunderlyingmessagewas

that the wonderful promisesmadebyHitler were nothing more than lies. The fact that itwas a

cartoonmakesitratherinteresting.Sincethepurevalueofentertainmenthasbeenwidelyspokenof,

itstillremainedpurepropaganda.

These days there are shows like FamilyGuy, The Simpsons andAmericanDad,which are

tryingtomakeastatementtowardstheAmericansociety,andprobablytherestoftheworld.Itvaries

frommockingthedifferentsidesofthepoliticalinstitutionswithintheUnitedStatesuptotheclear

referencestodictatorsandworldleaders.Thefunnythinghowever,thatshouldbenoticed,isthefact

thattheseseriesareallpartofthebroadcastchannelcalledFOX.FOX,abroadcastchannelthathas

beencalledmanynameslikeright-wingpropagandamachine,isoneofthemanyexampleswhere

newsand entertainment arecombinedwithpropagandisticthoughts(Outfoxed2004). Besidesthe

factthatFOXhasbeencalledmanynames,thedocumentaryOutfoxeddidagreatefforttopinpoint

thedifferentaspectsofintertwinementbetweenpoliticalinfluencesandthemediainthebroadest

context(ibid.).Althoughithastobeseenasasemi-complottheory,thedocumentaryindeeddoessay

somethingabouthowmediaandpoliticalinfluencesareintertwinedwitheachother.

NotonlyFOXwastryingtomakeastatementtowardstheAmericanpublic,aswellastherestoftheworld,ABCisalsoknownforthiskindofbehaviour.Withthelaunchoftheanimatedseries


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called SouthPark, ThatsMy Bushand Lil Bush, theseanimated series were playing a big role in

appealing to the liberals, conservatives, the cynicalpeople and all the sceptics in-between (Jones

2010:8).Thenumerous referencestowardsongoingwarsandreligionsarepresentinalmostevery

episode.Butmoreimportantly,thesereferencesrepresentahybridcombinationofbothhumoristic,

satiricalelementsandmodernpropaganda.Somethingthatispresentalotofthesedaysinthemedia

landscape, and when thinking about the dj vu-like experience, was already part of the early

adoptionofthetelevisionandotherdifferentmedia.Sincethisisasmallpartoftheenormouspuzzle

wehavetodealwith,itisalsoimportanttodiscussthemoreseriousbroadcasts,inotherwords,the

news.Wherethenotionofseriousandvaliditycanbetwistedanddiscussed.

Thediscourseoffear

WhentheterroristicattackontheWorldTradeCenterandthePentagontookplaceon11September2001,thenewscoverageoftheUnitedStatesafterwardswasmainlyfocussedonterrorism.Inorder

toget theAmericanpeople into moving towards theunderstandingandacceptance ofanewwar

againstterrorism,theyhadtobeconvinced.Thefirstbigsteptowardsthatgoalwasaspeechgiven

by former president George W. Bush, who declared the War on Terror. This speech was aired

throughouttheworld,sothateverybodycouldseeit.Ifitwasnotlive,itwouldhavebeenamodified

versioninanewsbroadcasts.

The power of television to influence opinion throughout the world is well documented.

Someonemightaskwhethertelevisionnewsdoeshaveaneffectregardingtheshapingofopinions.

This canbe seenas a rhetoric questionsince theobviouspolitical agendaswithin the functionof

television news can beperceived as clear facts.By addressing certain topics, such asthe war on

terrorism, television emphasizes on feelings. But it is pretty dangerous to assume that a single

television news manager of a broadcast channel is regulating the news in order of the different

political influential people. With the rise of the Internet, publics cannot escape these influential

processes,inawayitmayevenbecomeworse.Sinceeverybodycanpostsomethingonlineifheor

shewants that to,itisa mediumwitha lotofpotentialtowardspropagandisticstatements.Itmay

seem clear that the major media empires and ongoing changing of electronic technology will

eventuallydeterminethefutureoftelevisionnewsandmayaffectitinunforeseenways.

Furthermore,themaintainingofaformalandroutine-likeintimaterelationshipbythepress

towardspoliticalpowerispresentintodaystermsofmediapower.Thenewsmediacanthereforebe

seen as one of the most important actors in creating or representing the political reality, which

eventuallymightevenleadtosomescholarswhothinkthatthiswouldleadtoadditionalbranches

within governments (Cook 1998: 61). In a way the media can be seen as a political institution,

commercializedineveryway.

Newsandentertainmentmediaareperceivedas respectively seriousandtensionrelieving

partsofthetelevisionandmedialandscape,butcanbeseenaswellorganizeddistractions.Though


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theyprovidenumerousmomentswheretherecouldbelaughedbecauseofhumoroustalkshows,or

thefactthatsomethingimportanthashappened,theunderlyingstoriesarepresent,yetconcealedin

a way that only the subconscious can comprehend it (Baym 2005: 262). Nonetheless, news and

entertainmentconsistofhiddennarratives,whereonedoesthejobalittlebitbetterthantheother.

Thusitisimportanttonoticeswhatthedifferentmediacanproduceintermsofpoliticalinfluences.


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Conclusion

Televisionintheendcanbeseenasatruepoliticalinstrument.Byexaminingthetelevisionapparatus

asadoorsteptowardsthebroadermedialandscape,theintertwinementofmediaandpropaganda

was laid out. Thearchaeological perspectivemade it clear to understand how the television, and

othermedia,becametoolsfordifferentaspectofgovernmentsandcertainbroadcastchannels.What

staysinpeoplesmindsarethepicturesoftheoutsideworldthataresignificantlyinfluencedbythe

massmedia.Bythefactofwhatthecontentisandwhatthediscoursesurroundingitsaysaboutit.

Sincetheearliestformsofpropaganda,politicianswereabletowinoverthepublicaffections.

Duringthedifferentwarsdescribedinthispaper,wecanseeatrendinwhichmediabecamealot

moreinterestingforthisparticulargroup.Sincethemassmediaoftodayconnectsalotofpeopleto

eachother,thepossibilitiesseemendless.Thoughtheutopianvisionscreatedinthebeginningwith

theintroductionofthetelevisioncametrueuptoacertainlevel,thetelevisionneverbecamethe

mediumthatwouldsolvegloballyeffectedproblems.Byanymeans,itwouldonlycreateproblems.

These aspects also provide enormous implications, which go way beyond peoples

imaginations.Personalbehavioursarebeinginfluencedrangingfromwatchingshowsuptovotingon

electiondays.In lightof theseaspects,further researchhastobe conducted.A researchinlightof

howviewersperceive different aspectsof newsand entertainmentcanhelp us tounderstand the

impactof political influentialpropaganda,which in todaystermsis well hiddenwithin themedia.

Morefavourable,itisinterestingtoseehowthetelevisionwillholdupagainsttheInternet.Sincethe

Internetisalsopartofthebroadermedialandscapeandoffersavariousamountofwaystoconnect

tothepublicsemotions,itisthetaskforthetelevisiontocompetewiththisenormouspower.

Inconcluding,thetelevisionhasbeenafascinatingapparatusfromthebeginningandsinceit

hasbeenplacedinthecentreofthehouseholdsformanyyears,whichIthinkitwillbealsointhe

upcoming 15 years, it will be subjected to more research. Nonetheless, the television, and other

media,canbeseenaswarmachinesinordertowinovertheheartsofpeople.Thisisnotabadthing,

except theinfluentialpower provided througha certainmediumcannotbe seenas a longlasting

phenomenon.Thus,asinprevioushistoricalperiods,wewillhavetowaittillthattimecomeswhen

another one subjects a medium. Until that time arrives, we should all search for the underlying

messagesprovidedtousinafashionablyentertainingway.


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