Rhetorics and Disinformation in War Journalism

Rune Ottosen, Oslo University College

The Free Media Conference Institute for journalism

October 27 2006

Fine to apologize – even better to avoid mistakes

• On May 23, 2004 NYT apologized to the reader for misleading them on the existence of WMD- crucial in the arguments for the Iraq War. This is a good thing – but the big question is: What role did the media as a whole play in preparing the public for war on false arguments?

The Global Media ‘Space’

“Almost by definition . . . a war waged on live television is a war in which political and public relations considerations become inextricably bound up with military tactics and strategy. . . .

… how victory is won is almost as important as victory itself.” (Washington Post, March 24, 2003)

Five years since 9/11

• Act of terror as a real time event – implications for the impact and the ethics

Instruments of International Power

Diplomacy

Treaties, Contracts,Alliances etcCoercive Diplomacythreats of force, threatsof sanctions

Economics

Trade Agreements,WTO, GATT, NAFTASanctions

Military

Threats of ForceCombat

Informational

‘Propaganda’/Perception Mgmt.- Public Diplomacy ?- Cultural Diplomacy- International Broadcasting ?- Media Operations ?- PSYOPS ?

Blue = Hard Power ?Green = Soft Power ?

NATIONAL FOREIGN POLICY OBJECTIVES

PSYOPS as media messages

Commando Solo• After years of Taliban propaganda,

the Afghan people are hearing another voice.

• At any time of the day or night, an Air Force Special Operations Command EC-130E Commando Solo II is in the area of operations and broadcasting news and information to the Afghan people. An Air Force crew member adjusts the output of a transmission during an EC-130E Commando Solo II training mission. The aircraft fly a variety of missions. In Afghanistan, they're broadcasting music, news and information in the various languages of the country. These are radio broadcasts only.

Will journalism survive the propanda war?

• Pentagon has established it’s own television channel

• Distribute “news” (propaganda) without revealing sources

• Use PR firms like Rendon and Hill & Knowlton• Pentagon pays Iraqi media to publish pro-US

stories through The Lincoln group• Fake journalists asks the “right” questions at

press conferences• Critical blogs among soldiers closed down• Newspapers and radio/tv-channels are

establishes as a part of PSYOPS

PSYOPS on Internet

• “We must fight the Net. DoD is building an information-centric force. Networks are increasingly the operational centre of gravity, and the Department must be prepared to “fight the net” (…) We must Improve PSYOPS. Military forces must be better prepared to use PSYOPS in support of military operations and the themes and messages employed in a PSYOPS campaign must be consistent with the broader national security objectives and national-level messages.” (DoD: PSYOPS and Information Policy 2004-2009)

Winning hearts and minds with facts and fiction

• Public diplomacy i ”War on terror”

• Office of strategic influence revealed by NYT January 2002

• New global PR campaign through SYColaman, Lincoln Group and SAIC- budget- 300 mill. USD

Targeting the kids: The official U.S. Army game

• 2,3 million users in January 2006 – 7,5 million users in September 2006 (one of top five games in the world)

• Quote from the home page: ”The Soldiers in Special Forces are a reflection of the Army within which they serve. They are courageous, intelligent, resourcful and dedicated individuals”

Another part of the reality: would there be a story without pictures?

• Was the abuses in Abu Ghraib prison an isolated incident or part of a structural system?

• (Abu Ghraib was well known as a torture-chamber and horror-prison during Saddam Hussein’s dictatorship)

• Amnesty Int. reported the abuses already in July 2003.

Enemy image of al-Zarqawi –who needs who?

Journalism in the new world order

• The national news agenda is influenced by the international propaganda environment

• The framing in the national press -influenced by the national security policy orientation

Journalism promoting war

• Example: Uncritical coverage of Powel’s propaganda-show in UN in March 2003

• It promoted war by serving arguments for war based on lies and argued against peace-initiatives and conflict resolutions

Framing according to Powel

The digital bridge between facts and fiction?

PJ Definition

Peace Journalism is when editors and reporters make choices, about what to report and how to report it, which create opportunities for society at large to consider and to value non-violent, developmental responses to conflict (Jake Lynch in “Reporting

the world”)

What are the research issues?

• Conception management methods and their effects on news reports, debates and public opinion;

• relations between the defence industry, fiction industry and news media, especially with regard to instant news reports as well as to popular revisions of recent history in movies, television series and soap operas;

• the practical conditions for media war coverage, in particular correspondents’ situations and embeddedness through ground rules, pool-systems, and dependence on military protection;

• self-criticism of pitfalls and shortcomings in supplying fair and accurate reports – with respect both to immediate corrections and to comprehensive evaluations retrospectively after major operations or wars