Bring 'Em On Media and Politics in the Iraq War

by Artz, Lee; Kamalipour, Yahya R.; Brandenburg, Heinz; Brooten, Lisa; Cohen, Elisia L.; Cole, Timothy M.; Fuchs, Prof. Christian; Gasher, Mike; Hart, William B.; Hassencahl, Fran; Iskandar, Adel; Jacka, Liz; Jakubowicz, Andrew; Jansen, Sue Curry; Jensen, Ro

• ISBN13: 9780742536883
• ISBN10: 0742536882
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-12-10
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

How were the American people prepared for the war on Iraq? How have political agents and media gatekeepers sought to develop public support for the first preventive war of the modern age? Bring 'Em On highlights the complex links between media and politics, analyzing how communication practices are modified in times of crisis to protect political interests or implement political goals. International contributors in mass communication, political science, and sociology address how U.S. institutional media practices, government policy, and culture can influence public mobilization for war.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Bush Administration's March to War	vii
Douglas Kellner
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction	1	(6)
Yahya R. Kamalipour
Political Legitimacy, Cultural Leadership, and Public Action	7	(16)
Lee Artz
Banal Militarism and the Culture of War	23	(14)
Tanja Thomas
Fabian Virchow
National Security Strategy and the Ideology of Preventive War	37	(14)
Elisia L. Cohen
Foreign Policy, Public Diplomacy, and Public Relations: Selling America to the World	51	(16)
Sue Curry Jansen
The Problem with Patriotism: Steps toward the Redemption of American Journalism and Democracy	67	(18)
Robert Jensen
Culture as Persuasion: Metaphor as Weapon	85	(16)
William B. Hart II
Fran Hassencahl
The Invisible Ally: Marketing Australia's War in Iraq	101	(20)
Andrew Jakubowicz
Liz Jacka
The Construction of Arabs as Enemies: Post-9/11 Discourse of George W. Bush	121	(18)
Debra Merskin
The Political Rhetoric of Sacrifice and Heroism and U.S. Military Intervention	139	(16)
Timothy Cole
``The Great American Bubble'': Fox News Channel, the ``Mirage'' of Objectivity, and the Isolation of American Public Opinion	155	(20)
Adel Iskandar
Preemptive Strikes on the Cultural Front: Big Radio, the Dixie Chicks, and Homeland Insecurity	175	(14)
Matthew A. Killmeier
The Mass Media, Politics, and Warfare	189	(20)
Christian Fuchs
Might Makes Right: News Reportage as Discursive Weapon in the War in Iraq	209	(16)
Mike Gasher
Journalists Embedded in Culture: War Stories as Political Strategy	225	(14)
Heinz Brandenburg
The Power of Public Reporting: The Independent Media Center's Challenge to Corporate Media	239	(16)
Lisa Brooten
Index	255	(10)
About the Contributors	265