Media in conflict: participants or observers?

By Venita Subramanian University of Leeds, Department of International Communications If we wish to understand the crucial role of media professionals during the time of conflict, it is important to give a central position to the advancement in communication media and its changing impact. The premise of this essay is to highlight this significant relationship between media and technology and the shift of the role of media professionals from the time of the Vietnam War, known to be the first televised war (Hallin, The Uncensored War: The Media and Vietnam, 1989, p. 6), to the present time. In this essay, I have given particular importance to the Middle East conflicts including current issues that are relevant to this claim. Additionally, I have also provided a comparative analysis of the changing nature of war itself, yet keeping in mind the indispensable political, economic and social systems that surround it. Among the many changes that have been expanding the scope and development of communications during conflict, the use of online channels of communications is now an important vehicle for mobilization and has accelerated interest in mediated conflicts around the world. We also see that media professionals play distinct roles within the context of national media and can be widely divergent in international media coverage. In short, the role of media professionals to a large extent remains unmethodical and sporadic within several existing mass media systems. However, the purpose of this essay is to emphasize on the present influence of media professionals, so to speak, of frequent generalization of the role of media professionals that exist during conflicts. In the mid-1960s, television was considered to be one of the main sources of news that deeply influenced public opinions during the Vietnam War (Rahn, p. 3). In 1960, the United States ranked the highest with more than five million television receivers amongst twelve other countries with more than a million television sets (UNESCO, 1963).The changing viewership of news media is seen to have an extensive coverage of Vietnam War on television. Journalists had free access to the front lines that allowed them to report an uncensored version of the war (Snow, pp. 238, 239). Yet, there was a major flaw in media coverage during this time. The war was seen to be heavily one-sided and is served more as a reflection of images generated by those controlling the information (Taylor, p. 9). When we think of the brutalities in Vietnam, certain images sticks out in the minds of the public as symbolic of the war. Images of the Buddhist monk taking his life by setting himself on fire, the little girl accidently hit by napalm and the marine with the cigarette lighter are examples that may have led to thinking that these events were characteristic of media coverage during the Vietnam War. However, Oscar Patterson1 noted that this was only a small portion of the daily broadcast coverage. Patterson concluded that these images are remembered for its extreme visuals and highly dramatic exceptions that encroached on a national consciousness, and dramatically altered recall of the Vietnam War today (Murray, 1999, p. 272). One of the best known war correspondents, Chief Morley Safer of CBS London, opened CBS News Saigon bureau and served two hours there. Safers film report in 1965 showed a marine at Cam Ne setting a hut on fire with a cigarette lighter that was said to be one of the most sensational stories during the war coverage (Murray, 1999, p. 271) . This war is said to be one of the most extensively covered wars on television in the US than any other topic in the history of current affairs (Ramonet, 2000).
0F

University of North Carolina at Pembroke

However, this one-sided media coverage encompassed a largely accepted view that media wanted the U.S troops to leave Vietnam, leaving little room for any news coverage from the enemys viewpoint. There was always a struggle to maintain a balance in the amount of coverage each side got during the war. Only until the late 1960s, American film-makers produced political documentaries that were aimed at exposing the gruesome atrocities of the US intervention with most emerging only after it was over. The first of its kind was released in 1969; Within the Year of the Pig by Emile de Antonio 2 which was the first major anti-war documentary about Vietnam. Emile studied huge archive material to demonstrate the pre-mediated nature of the certainty of the US defeat (Ramonet, 2000). For the most part, media was held responsible for alienating American public sympathy and its domination in military public relations planning (Taylor, p. 2). In the case of the Vietnam War, the role of media professionals is seen to be more than just mere observers. There are several themes about how America lost the war because media, noticeably on television, undermined the military and political efforts and the opposition of American media of the war itself (Pilger, 2001, p. 254). During the Reagan administration 3, the Pentagon had several changes to its media policies and imposed restrictions in news coverage. U.S military actions in 1980 did not allow journalists to access the front lines. We see the adaption of these policies during the first Iraq War, where the embedded journalists 4 were kept at bay and received most of their information during Pentagon briefings (Snow, p. 239). With the changing trends in communications technology, could the role of media during the Vietnam War have been any different, if the same was waged in recent times? I believe the answer to that is, yes. One of the preeminent features of communications technology in the modern world is that it highly dynamic and increasingly global. Electronic media has made it possible to gain access to information generated from even the most remote sources, by proliferating several virtual communications networks (Thompson, 1995, p. 149). Western assessments often suggest that the emergence of satellite television broadcasting, the Internet and other new media will overwhelmingly change the social and political realities in the Middle East (Fandy, 2000) . We saw this shift in the 2003 Iraq War characterized a crucial element for media during international conflict mainly in the context of Internet-based news coverage (Ahern, 2007). Media theory tells us that journalists influence public opinion; and becomes the focus of public attention, thought and, in some cases, action (McCombs, 2004). According to Maxwells studies the setting of a public agenda by journalists occurs wherever there is a reasonably open political and media system. Historically, in the Arab world, the media has always been subject to government control and frequent censorship with press policies being largely ambivalent. In an interview with Said Essoulami 5, he criticized media environment in the Arab world and the harassment and political pressures including dismissal, restraints on travel, physical assault, torture, abduction, passport withdrawals and exile that the Arab journalists were subjugated to (Amin, 2002, pp. 125-135). However, over the last few years, with major development of information technology, satellite broadcasting and the internet, Middle East has seen some remarkable changes in its political, cultural and economic framework.

Emile de Antonio was one of a preeminent force of independent film and political documentary. The ten documentaries he made between 1963 and 1989 highlighted the power structures governing Cold War America (Harvard Film) 3 Ronald Reagan served the United States Presidency from 1981-1989 4 During the Iraq War, America tried to keep unilateral journalists out of Iraq and reduced independent reporting of the war (Workman, 2003).
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Executive Director of the Centre for Media Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (CMF MENA)

Information no longer flows in one direction, with new media facilitating different forms of interactive and transnational dialogue (Amin, 2002). This overwhelming exchange of information continues to have an outcome on regional media frameworks in the Middle East. The governments now find it more difficult to control the flow of information and what the public sees and hears. New media has formed a platform for truly independent journalists to contribute, influence and express their opinions on government policies. Many satellite broadcasting and transnational broadcasting television like Al-Jazeera and Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) are strengthening the link between Western culture, media and technology (Amin, 2002). Social media is seen playing a predominant role in creating public pressure and has facilitated a phenomenon of citizen journalists. In January 2007, a few minutes long video 6 on the internet sparked a major outrage in Israel. The video showed footage of a woman from the Jewish settlement of Tel Rumeida 7, who was later identified as Yifat Alkobi, cursing a young Palestinian girl. The video was filmed by the sixteen-year old daughter of the Abu Eishe family from within the metallic grid that protects the house. The footage shot the woman screaming at the girls sister the Arabic and Hebrew term for whore, sharmouta (Iazzolino, 2010). During that time, there existed a ban on travelling to the occupied Palestinian territories, so many Israelis got their first ever glimpse on the life of Palestinian. The video was then addressed publicly by then Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz who denounced the behavior of the settler and ordered for an investigation to take place. Following the wide spread condemnation of this video, a ministerial committee was set up to address human rights issues in Hebron. Such kinds of online phenomenon have given rise to a new branch in journalism studies. The International Center for Journalists (ICFG) organized 11-month training in citizen journalism where Egyptian media organizations were trained to work with citizen journalists and ways to integrate their contributions through latest new media tools available. 8 Mass media content is a socially created product, not a reflection of an objective reality, according to Pamela Shoemaker and Stephen Reese (Pintak, Spring 2009).We now see several online campaigning and a hybrid model of online communications (Singer, 2005) such as weblogs, online forums that are maintained by journalists and citizens alike. New technology and the emergence of 2.0 Web have resulted in an outburst of resistance campaigns and an online fusing of Muslims and Arab worldviews (Pintak, Spring 2009). Shortly after the arrival of Al-Jazeera in 1996, which was the first independent satellite channel in the Middle East, Arabs across the region were seeing an aggressive style of reporting, witnessing events that were long hidden (Radio, 2011). Recently, Al Jazeera English announced the launch of a new show that is directed by what people are discussing on Twitter, Facebook and other social media website. The Spring, will be a talk show that is focused on online views concerning Middle East and North Africa uprisings. 9 By large, the internet in tandem with other factors such as satellite TV, social networks, and globalization is helping to erode the legitimacy of an authoritarian regime (Hofheinz, 2005). This is seen to be of particular significance in countries such as Egypt, Tunisia and Libya where new media has undermined governments hegemonic control. The government undoubtedly tries to suppress expressions of discord over the net by developing more sophisticated methods of censorship. Saudi Arabia, Syria and Tunisia exercise the most heavy-handed control of Internet traffic in the region, but even or perhaps especially in these countries, the net has proven to be a vital factor in opening windows and expanding the realm of what can be said in public (Hofheinz, 2005).
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Video can be viewed on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2L6Ru0Er1NA In the Old City of Hebron, West Bank, Gaza 8 More information on the program is available on International Center of Journalists website http://www.icfj.org/OurWork/MiddleEastNorthAfrica/ICFJTrainsEgyptianMediaonCitizenJournalis/tabid/1500/Default.aspx 9 (Madrigal, 2011)

The principal difference between conflicts that existed up until the 90s and now is also a significant point to be noted. The future of the war is now an internet war where technology doesnt just remove people from risk but make them engaging participants within it, restructuring their affiliation with war itself. Today, it is impossible to fight a war like the one in Vietnam where journalists were ordinarily playing the role of one-sided messengers. Governments now acknowledge the power of the internet and take numerous measures to recede the changing nature of journalists and new trends arising from it. Journalists on the other hand, have better accessibility, transparency and freedom to associate and simultaneously disconnect from news organizations 10. Indeed, oppressed citizens in a country also perform the inevitable role of political activists and use social media as a main tool for revolting against political systems. Even when dissidents in Libya, organized the day of rage 11on February 17th 2011 following Fathi Terbil 12s arrest, it was a video released of the protests on Benghazi square that spread rapidly over the internet and gained international coverage. Social media is fast, easily accessible and cannot be controlled by a single entity. Marshall McLuhan in his book Understanding Media: The extensions of man, described how social and political change were generated by media and described how one medium changes with the introduction of another (Hadden, 2011). Through most of the 20th century, the Egyptian media had a strong monopoly on the flow of information to its people, just like most parts of the Arab world. For example, when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, most people in Saudi Arabia, their neighboring country, were completely unaware of the crises. This was because Saudi Arabia waited three days to announce the news. (Radio, 2011). During the Egypt crises that took place in January 2011, social networking such as Twitter and Facebook, connected the protesters to each other and to the outside world (Himelfarb, 2011). Although the government cut access to the internet and mobile phone networks, protests still continued to take place. But the internet is strikingly resilient because as its core it is, this network of networks (Himelfarb, 2011) thus enabling access in one way or another. Whether this impact is of social media is providing incremental political and societal change is still ambiguous. However, campaigns such as the April 6, Youth Movement and the Green Revolution are standing examples of political activism movements that relied heavily on social media to catalyze, promote and organize several aspects of the campaign. The Youth Movement in Egypt, consisting of more than 100,000 young Egyptians who used Facebook, expressed cohesion with the workers protesting in the Delta industrial city of al-Mahalla-al-Kubra .Organizers of the movement, urged followers through Facebook to demonstrate their support for the workers by wearing black, staying home, and boycotting products on the day of strike (The April 6 Youth Movement, 2011). The Arab world is now experiencing a collective consciousness of freedom of speech that can be seen in countries like Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Iran. It could also be argued that such change would have eventually taken place in the Middle East, given the coercive authoritarian regime that overshadows the region. However, such protests can only breed in the presence of accessible modes of communication that are available to foster and develop public consciousness. Even during the Green Revolution protest in Iran, Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claimed the
Most journalists maintain their own blogs expressing their views on different topics. Day of rage, inspired by the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the Libyan protestors defied a security crackdown gathered in the capital of Tripoli. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/201121755057219793.html 12 Terbil represents a group of families whose sons were massacred by Libyan authorities in 1996 in Tripoli's infamous Abu Salim prison, where an estimated 1,200 prisoners, mostly opponents of the regime, were rounded up and gunned down in the span of a few hours. Protests began when Terbil was arrested by the Libyan police forces (ABDURRAHMAN, 2011).
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election results were a fraud, continued his political discourse online on Facebook, along with his Green Revolution blog. What is ironic about Mousavis now virtual campaign is if his social exile occurred just a few decades ago, he would have possibly fell marginalized as a leader and had lost momentum without the liberation of information on the internet (Sligay, 2011). A recent study by the Center for International Media Assistance has shown that about 17 million people in the Arab region are using Facebook, available in Arabic, with 5 million in Egypt alone, and demand is expected to grow on micro-blogging sites. Twitter has also recently announced the launch of its Arabic interface 13 (Ghannam, 2011). Conclusion What does this mean for journalists and media professionals? One major change we see happening as an outcome of new media, is their deteriorating role as gatekeepers of information. On a broader perspective, anybody who influences opinion, play more than a role of mere observers. More specifically, this essay has highlighted the diminishing role of media as active participants in conflict. Now sources find their own means to communicate their message to the outside world. To keep up to the role of new media, traditional media are concerned more with breaking news and fail to fulfill their role in providing context and inside stories to their users (Department of Public Information, 2010). With connectivity readily available in most parts of the world, information is plentiful and eagerly accessed. Technology works as a converging force that binds political entities, citizens and journalists. Although their role to influence and change the course of conflict cannot be measured accurately, the types of conflicts that are fought today have adapted a model of interactivity, where atrocities can easily be exposed to the public. Topics such as codes, ethics and human rights are more relevant today that it ever was. Mr. Al-Laham of Maan News Agency said that 65 percent of Palestinian public opinion was gained from external sources of information, and recalled that in 2003 Palestinian media had been almost entirely destroyed, leaving a void and leading to fears that there would no longer be an independent voice coming from Palestine (Department of Public Information, 2010). For the most part, we see that the role of journalists as passive observers during the time of conflict, but at the same time, seen adapting a primary mission of facilitating social and political change. New media offers several opportunities today that were not available only a few years ago where the views of people were moderately suppressed. In the Middle East, especially in Iran, the significance of new media was seen, particularly with regard to the Twitter Revolution during the time of political activism. Media, in most cases is always seen to be subject to protocols as seen during the 2003 Iraq War and gave rise to embedded journalists. Even in most of the Arab region, the media environment is generally constrained and governed by harsh laws, whereas the internet freedom and scope for disseminating information is largely positive (Ghannam, 2011). Digital platforms have given rise to citizen journalists that have condensed the role of journalists into aggregating, amplifying and putting the story into context (Ghannam, 2011). Journalists, who were once agents of information handed to them by governments during the time of conflict, are today mud-slinging critics. Good news for citizens against the political systems and for journalists looking for a good story, but potentially bad news for governments and organizations who will inevitably lose track in the labyrinth of online space.

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Twitter Arabic http://twitter.com/arabiclanguage

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